Pummeling wind gusts from Hurricane Irene bent or flattened field corn in spots along a wide swath of east-central Delaware, the state's agriculture said, but area farms generally weathered the storm without major trouble, reports Delaware Online.

Although thousands of poultry houses dot Kent County and Sussex County and other Delmarva Peninsula counties to the south, only one Delaware broiler house near Felton suffered a major problem, with several thousand chickens lost to flooding.

Agriculture Secretary, Ed Kee, said modern houses are built to withstand winds of up to 100mph. Irene's measured gusts topped out at 66mph near Lewes, according to the National Weather Service, but might have been higher at other unmonitored sites.

Damage to fields was reportedly more extensive in parts of Maryland’s Eastern Shore, Mr Kee said.

Feed corn and soybeans account for the largest share of acres planted in Delaware, with virtually all dedicated to the state's large poultry industry.