The California Central Valley citrus industry has been devastated by a deep and prolonged freeze.

Without knowing the full details, citrus growers fear the worst -- that a substantial portion of the crop has been lost to the freeze. Growers will assess the damage again Monday, Jan. 15 and have a better idea as the extent of damage and loss.

Meanwhile, the weather forecast for Bakersfield, CA, predicts morning lows of 25, 25, 28, 27, 29 and 31 over the next six days.

The company that brought the original seedless oranges to North America over a century ago will introduce its latest sweet, juicy citrus variety to the U.S. market in mid-January.

Nour, a type of clementine indigenous to Morocco, is the newest addition to the Vancouver, BC-based Oppenheimer Group's citrus program. Nour clementines are produced in Morocco's premium orange-growing region, which is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.

NEW YORK -- "Texas grows the reddest and sweetest grapefruit on the market today," Eleisha L. Ensign, executive director of TexaSweet Citrus Marketing Inc. in Mission, TX, said as she held a Rio Star variety high in the air to show off the good-looking fruit to an audience, here, Jan. 6, at the French Culinary Institute.

The event, a demonstration of dessert recipes prepared by Gotham Bar & Grill's pastry chef, Deborah Racicot, was co-sponsored by TexaSweet and PastryScoop.com, an on-line magazine and information site founded by the institute.

Unseasonably warm weather in Florida during November and December created at least a temporary glut of fresh produce coming out of fields near the beginning of the year. Although the problem was thought to be working itself out by around Jan. 10, it did cause prices to drop at least temporarily, especially on peppers and tomatoes.

SALINAS, CA -- A state hearing on a marketing agreement that would involve a dozen or so green leafy vegetables was drawing strong interest leading into the Jan. 12 hearing at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, CA.

The hearing and the effort to gain a marketing agreement are being conducted by the California Department of Food & Agriculture at the behest of fresh produce industry associations.

Unprecedented cold temperatures will soon descend upon much of the West and Southwest. California citrus growers in the Central Valley are bracing for a string of cold temperatures Jan. 11-18. Snow is forecast on the valley floor Jan. 12 near Bakersfield. Daytime highs will range from 39 to 55 degrees with overnight lows in the low 20s to 30 degrees. Wind chill temperatures the nights of Jan. 13, 14 and 15 will be in the teens.