Hail damages tomatoes, greenhouses at Village Farms Marfa

MARFA – Village Farms announced that it experienced major crop damage at its 82-acre Marfa and Presidio facilities from a significant hailstorm in Marfa the evening of Thursday, May 31, shattering hundreds of panes of greenhouse glass. No employees were injured.

Large hailstones broke hundreds of glass panes at Village Farms' Presidio, Marfa and Gates tomato facilities north of Marfa, as seen from the air. Thankfully, no employees were injured, said Doug Kling, senior vice president and chief marketing officer. (photo by and courtesy of CADE WOODWARD)

The company is in the process of assessing the damage to its crops and facilities, which are fully insured for such events. The company expects that certain sections of these greenhouses may remain operational, some sections will be operational in a few weeks while other sections will not be operational for a couple of months.

Mike DeGiglio, company chief executive officer, said, “The facilities are typically dark in late June and through July such that the hail damage came at the very end of our annual crop cycle, such that the crop and revenue loss are near their annual low point.”

He added, “In our 20-year history, we have never experienced such a weather event. We are fortunate that no one was hurt during this weather event and that it occurred at this time of year. We have an experienced team and a crisis management process in place to handle such events.”

The company’s facilities in Fort Davis, 40 acres under glass, and its new Monahans greenhouse of 30 acres, weren’t impacted by the hail and are fully operational.

Likewise, the company’s  facilities in Delta, British Columbia of 110 acres are fully operational, and, given the timing of this event, there will be little to no disruption in tomatoes to the grower’s core U.S. and Canadian accounts.