Crop damage in Florida - news roundup

Florida's freezing temperatures are grabbing headlines this morning. Here is a list of what's out there so far:

Florida freeze nails beans and other vegetables From The Packer's Doug Ohlemeier

A freeze that struck south Florida growing areas caused extensive damage to the region’s winter green beans and sweet corn.

Florida grower-shippers were assessing damage after temperatures plummeted to subfreezing levels — between 26 and 30 degrees — in the Homestead, Belle Glade, Immokalee and Plant City growing regions during the early morning hours of Jan. 22.

Florida strawberry growers, who spray their fields with water to form ice domes that protect the tender berries from freezing, in initial reports appear to have escaped serious damage.

While damage estimates weren’t available Jan. 22, some Belle Glade-area corn and green beans fields in initial reports sustained losses of at least 80%.

Emergency order in effect to speed harvest, crop transport From Marco Island Sun Times

Agricultural producers as far south as Lake Okeechobee are assessing crop damage caused by the frigid temperatures of the past two nights. Seventy million citrus trees and tens of thousands of acres of fresh fruits and vegetables were in regions where temperatures remained below 30 degrees for several hours.

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles H. Bronson said that while initial reports are coming in, the extent of the damage will not be known for several days.

Florida freeze threatens orange, blueberry crop From the AP

Freezing weather strikes Florida citrus groves From Reuters

Fearing frozen foods From Gainesville.com