Florida and Southeast dodge weather bullet
Florida and Southeast dodge weather bullet
Growers in the southeastern United States were scrambling Jan. 1 to put into action any plan possible to protect their crops from a weather forecast advising that temperatures could drop to below freezing and last from several hours to as many as 72 hours.
Fortunately, the cold front that blew as far south as Key West was considerably less damaging than predicted.
"The weather did not have a negative impact on the [citrus] groves at all," said Patrick Norris, sales manager for Seald Sweet, headquartered in Vero Beach, FL. "If anything, it had a positive impact as it will result in better color and juicing of the fruit."
Liz Compton, spokesperson for the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, said that reports came in from across the state the day following the expected freeze.
"Seed potatoes in Palatka are stored in barns with heat, so were not affected," said Ms. Compton. "Those in the ground did not suffer damage. In Starke and Plant City, growers took protective measures on strawberry crops by irrigating."
Ms. Compton said that no frost was observed in Wauchula. The produce harvesting is mostly over in that area, so no damage was reported. Reports from other areas indicated that little to no damage was found following the cold weather.
Donna Duda, communications specialist for A Duda & Sons in Oviedo, FL, said that temperatures on the company's Belle Glade farm ranged from 34 to 36 degrees during the freeze.
"High winds and protection from Lake Okeechobee kept temperatures from dropping any lower," she said. "No ice was detected. We had some minor leaf burn from the winds in our leaf crops but not significantly. About 80 acres of winter corn came though fine and will harvest on schedule next month.
She continued, "Ironically, Homestead was colder than the Glades. We had temperatures of 31 and 32 degrees for approximately one hour around 3 a.m. Wednesday night (Jan 2). No damage has been detected, but we will have to wait and see how the crops progress. No ice formed because of the high winds, but some of the corn crop in the Homestead area was blown over. We will survey in a few days for additional damage, but we feel we have little damage to report on field crops."
Duda's citrus groves in LaBelle experienced a uniform temperature of 29 degrees from 3 a.m. until daylight, rising to 30 degrees in some places. Wind was significant and caused the uniform temperatures.
"In summary, we found no ice in the fruit, saw no frost or cold damage to young flush and observed no icicles around our micro-jet irrigation, which we turned off before freezing to prevent super-cooling from the wind," said Ms. Duda. "No damage was reported in our Vero Beach groves."
Georgia's Vidalia onion growers are also using the "dodged the bullet" expression. Michael Hively, chief financial officer and general manager of Bland Farms in Vidalia, GA, said there was no reported crop damage.
"A little freeze did occur throughout the Vidalia industry, but the plants are so young that they will recover nicely.," he said. "The forecast on Monday, January 7, was 72 degrees, and it is expected to reach 77 tomorrow. We are expecting warm weather for the next 10 days, and that will give the plants a nice growing push."
Fortunately, the cold front that blew as far south as Key West was considerably less damaging than predicted.
"The weather did not have a negative impact on the [citrus] groves at all," said Patrick Norris, sales manager for Seald Sweet, headquartered in Vero Beach, FL. "If anything, it had a positive impact as it will result in better color and juicing of the fruit."
Liz Compton, spokesperson for the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, said that reports came in from across the state the day following the expected freeze.
"Seed potatoes in Palatka are stored in barns with heat, so were not affected," said Ms. Compton. "Those in the ground did not suffer damage. In Starke and Plant City, growers took protective measures on strawberry crops by irrigating."
Ms. Compton said that no frost was observed in Wauchula. The produce harvesting is mostly over in that area, so no damage was reported. Reports from other areas indicated that little to no damage was found following the cold weather.
Donna Duda, communications specialist for A Duda & Sons in Oviedo, FL, said that temperatures on the company's Belle Glade farm ranged from 34 to 36 degrees during the freeze.
"High winds and protection from Lake Okeechobee kept temperatures from dropping any lower," she said. "No ice was detected. We had some minor leaf burn from the winds in our leaf crops but not significantly. About 80 acres of winter corn came though fine and will harvest on schedule next month.
She continued, "Ironically, Homestead was colder than the Glades. We had temperatures of 31 and 32 degrees for approximately one hour around 3 a.m. Wednesday night (Jan 2). No damage has been detected, but we will have to wait and see how the crops progress. No ice formed because of the high winds, but some of the corn crop in the Homestead area was blown over. We will survey in a few days for additional damage, but we feel we have little damage to report on field crops."
Duda's citrus groves in LaBelle experienced a uniform temperature of 29 degrees from 3 a.m. until daylight, rising to 30 degrees in some places. Wind was significant and caused the uniform temperatures.
"In summary, we found no ice in the fruit, saw no frost or cold damage to young flush and observed no icicles around our micro-jet irrigation, which we turned off before freezing to prevent super-cooling from the wind," said Ms. Duda. "No damage was reported in our Vero Beach groves."
Georgia's Vidalia onion growers are also using the "dodged the bullet" expression. Michael Hively, chief financial officer and general manager of Bland Farms in Vidalia, GA, said there was no reported crop damage.
"A little freeze did occur throughout the Vidalia industry, but the plants are so young that they will recover nicely.," he said. "The forecast on Monday, January 7, was 72 degrees, and it is expected to reach 77 tomorrow. We are expecting warm weather for the next 10 days, and that will give the plants a nice growing push."
