Freeze claims 80 percent of local sweet corn, green beans
Feb 18, 2006 (The Palm Beach Post - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News via COMTEX) -- The Valentine's Day freeze killed 70 percent to 80 percent of western Palm Beach County's sweet corn crop, and green beans fared even worse, with 80 percent to 90 percent destroyed, according to a preliminary report released Friday.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's "flash situation" report -- designed to give a quick estimate of the damage -- did not provide dollar amounts, but instead estimated the percentage of loss for crops such as lettuce.
The report is the first step toward a disaster relief program, said Steve Berk, the West Palm Beach-based district director of the USDA Farm Service Agency.
The freeze has not yet been declared a disaster, a designation that has to come from the president or the U.S. agriculture secretary.
Ann Holt, president of the Western Palm Beach County Farm Bureau, said Friday the estimate was right on target with her prediction in the hours after the freeze.
"As for sweet corn, everybody will plant most of it back," said Holt, a partner in Twin H Farms in Belle Glade. "My husband said he's going to plant what he thinks he can harvest and sell. If you have an abundance of corn on the market at one time, you can't move it."
Based on typical yields per acre for corn and beans and prices before the freeze, the destroyed crops could have brought $50 million on the wholesale market.
The report found freeze-related losses for other crops in the region, such as tropical fruits and citrus, to be minimal.
For ornamental plants, losses were pegged at less than 10 percent, while for sugar cane the damage has yet to be determined.
Vegetable growers were moving on this week, continuing to plant and harvest following the shock of seeing their fields covered in frost Tuesday.
In some locations of the Everglades Agricultural Area, temperatures of 26 to 28 degrees were recorded shortly after midnight Feb. 14 and continued to be below freezing until 8 to 9 a.m., the USDA report said.
"Let's just hope we can finish up the planting schedules for spring and get this one behind us," said Steve Williams, president of Knight Management Inc. in Belle Glade.
For growers who have green beans left, prices have doubled.
The vegetables now will fetch $24 per 30-pound crate, up from $12 a week ago.
Corn prices have jumped, too, bringing $16.70 for 48 ears, up from $10.70 before the freeze.
John S. Hundley, vice president of Hundley Farms Inc. east of Belle Glade, said about 300 acres of his farm's corn was saved by six helicopters that pushed warm air down onto the fields.
He expects to harvest about 90,000 crates from those fields and said most of the crop will go out of state to "value-added products" such as microwave packs.
"We will harvest it over the next two weeks," Hundley said. "We are happy to have a little bit of something."
To see more of The Palm Beach Post -- including its homes, jobs, cars and
other classified listings -- or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.palmbeachpost.com.
Feb 18, 2006 (The Palm Beach Post - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News via COMTEX) -- The Valentine's Day freeze killed 70 percent to 80 percent of western Palm Beach County's sweet corn crop, and green beans fared even worse, with 80 percent to 90 percent destroyed, according to a preliminary report released Friday.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's "flash situation" report -- designed to give a quick estimate of the damage -- did not provide dollar amounts, but instead estimated the percentage of loss for crops such as lettuce.
The report is the first step toward a disaster relief program, said Steve Berk, the West Palm Beach-based district director of the USDA Farm Service Agency.
The freeze has not yet been declared a disaster, a designation that has to come from the president or the U.S. agriculture secretary.
Ann Holt, president of the Western Palm Beach County Farm Bureau, said Friday the estimate was right on target with her prediction in the hours after the freeze.
"As for sweet corn, everybody will plant most of it back," said Holt, a partner in Twin H Farms in Belle Glade. "My husband said he's going to plant what he thinks he can harvest and sell. If you have an abundance of corn on the market at one time, you can't move it."
Based on typical yields per acre for corn and beans and prices before the freeze, the destroyed crops could have brought $50 million on the wholesale market.
The report found freeze-related losses for other crops in the region, such as tropical fruits and citrus, to be minimal.
For ornamental plants, losses were pegged at less than 10 percent, while for sugar cane the damage has yet to be determined.
Vegetable growers were moving on this week, continuing to plant and harvest following the shock of seeing their fields covered in frost Tuesday.
In some locations of the Everglades Agricultural Area, temperatures of 26 to 28 degrees were recorded shortly after midnight Feb. 14 and continued to be below freezing until 8 to 9 a.m., the USDA report said.
"Let's just hope we can finish up the planting schedules for spring and get this one behind us," said Steve Williams, president of Knight Management Inc. in Belle Glade.
For growers who have green beans left, prices have doubled.
The vegetables now will fetch $24 per 30-pound crate, up from $12 a week ago.
Corn prices have jumped, too, bringing $16.70 for 48 ears, up from $10.70 before the freeze.
John S. Hundley, vice president of Hundley Farms Inc. east of Belle Glade, said about 300 acres of his farm's corn was saved by six helicopters that pushed warm air down onto the fields.
He expects to harvest about 90,000 crates from those fields and said most of the crop will go out of state to "value-added products" such as microwave packs.
"We will harvest it over the next two weeks," Hundley said. "We are happy to have a little bit of something."
To see more of The Palm Beach Post -- including its homes, jobs, cars and
other classified listings -- or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.palmbeachpost.com.