Grocery Prices May Rise
The recent cold that has impacted the Tennessee Valley has also impacted much of the eastern 2/3 of the United States including the growing regions of South Texas and Florida. According to the Florida Department of Agriculture, Florida accounts for 70% of the total U.S. citrus production and ranks first in the production of grapefruit, tangerines, sugar cane, snap beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, bell peppers, watermelon and sweet corn. The state also ranks second in the production of strawberries.
This is a critical time for Florida farmers as many fruits and vegetables are at a critical point in their winter growing season. To try to save their crops, farmers have been actively irrigating their crops in hopes that the freeze will freeze the water and not the crop. When water freezes it gives of a bit of heat and that can be just enough of a difference between a crop being save and one that becomes a loss.
Saturday morning saw morning low temperatures fall into the 20s across much of the major citrus belt from Tampa to Daytona Beach but at this time growers feel that they have been able to protect most of their crop. However, another cold night is planned for Sunday into early Monday.
So what would happen if significant losses occur? If you are an orange juice consumer you will likely see higher prices as nearly 95% of the oranges grown in Florida are utilized for orange juice production. So a significant loss in crop would likely yield to higher juice prices. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that orange juice future prices have already risen 17% this year. In addition, if like me, you enjoy strawberries in February and March prior to the local crop being avaliable, you may have to lay out more dough to enjoy those shortcakes.
Dale Bader / Meteorologist, Storm Force 31
