I was in Florida March 1-3 and nearly froze my fanny. Apparently I wasn’t alone as reports are coming in that your loading opportunities with Florida green beans and sweet corn will be diminished in the weeks ahead.
Up to 25 percent of south Florida’s spring sweet corn was hit by freezing temperatures on the night of Monday, March 4th, including the Belle Glade area. Beans also suffered damage.
Temperatures plunged to degrees in some specific areas for several hours. Some growers already are talking of replanting in Palm Beach County, which has about 20,000-24,000 acres of corn. The harvest and shipments usually start in early April. More specific damage results and its affect on your loading opportunities should become clearer the week of March 11 – 15.
Temperatures dipped to 27-28 degrees in some areas, but two to five degrees warmer in other areas.
Florida blueberries also may be at risk, but information from intial reports were very sketchy, although early indications are for the most part “blues” dodged the bullet.
We’ll just have to wait to see if other veggies besides corn and beans were affected, not to mention tomatoes and citrus. Most Florida vegetables were maturing earlier than ususal – by one to two weeks, because it has been such a mild winter.
The stage of growth, plus the number of hours vegetables are subjected to freezing temperatures can greatly affect the amount of damage. One thing for sure, produce truckers will need to use caution when hauling Florida produce in the weeks ahead, being on the watch for freeze damage.
Florida produce grossing – about $1800 to Chicago.