Large animals tend to do well, particularly if they are able to get to high ground. Smaller animals such as pigs or poultry are more likely to be killed, especially if they are trapped, depending on the severity of the flood, forecasting a need for replacement costs. Expensive agricultural equipment such as combines, harvesters, and tractors are damaged with water, requiring repair and replacement. Buildings such as poultry houses or barns, equipment storage sheds, and silos are inundated with water, requiring the repair or replacement of the buildings and their contents. In addition to community infrastructure, farm infrastructure such as driveways, paddocks, fencing, and work areas are severely damaged in a flood, and will require repair.
Soils are primary in all agriculture.
The top 6 to 8 inches of soil determine the ability of crops to grow and ultimately the value of the farm itself. In a flood, soils are severely damaged when plant nutrients are leached out of the soil, silts and sands washed onto their surface, forming a crust through which seedlings have difficulty growing. The structure of agricultural soils is especially ruined in a spring flood, when there may be no crop in the field to hold soil. In the long term, repair and replacement costs to an indebted agricultural producer can place the farm family in peril of severe financial woes. A rural community's once-pristine natural environment suffers damage when eroding soils wash into streams, carrying with them nutrients, pesticides, debris and other pollutants.