Cold Weather’s Impact on Florida Citrus, Other Crops

The aftermath from that storm that socked much of the central, eastern and even southern portions of the country, may be felt much longer than originally thought.

The February freeze dipped into portions of Florida, which may have damaged crops. 

When it comes to citrus, NASS’ Anthony Prilleman said:

“We will collect data near the end of March, first part of April, that we will use in our next citrus forecast that goes out on April 9th. So we'll have people actually in the field. They'll be counting the number of trees, the number of fruit that's on the tree, the size of the fruit, and then any type of potential loss in terms of droppage."

While citrus is big for the Sunshine State, those aren’t the only crops grown in Florida.  What about strawberries, sugarcane, and winter vegetables?

“For those crops, we won't actually be doing any objective yield measurements actually going out into the field," Prilleman noted.  "So that's going to be based on both survey data that we collect from growers, buyers, and that's where that information is going to show any type of potential loss.”

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