BRIAN BLANCO/bblanco@bradenton.com Marc Fathauer
points out bruising Friday morning on one of his Ixora
Maui plants in East Manatee.
http://www.bradenton.com/news/local/lakewood_ranch_herald/story/1211063.html
Saturday, Feb. 07, 2009
Farmers say cold damage ranges from spotty to serious
By SARA KENNEDY - skennedy@bradenton.com
MANATEE Ben King awoke Friday to face acres of dead eggplants and lifeless jalapenos, victims of multiple freezes over the last couple of weeks.
Still, his blueberry crop survived, so at least there was one bright spot to an otherwise dismaying winter.
I was not very lucky with the weather, said King, owner of King Farm Myakka, in East Manatee, which grows fruit and vegetables for sale in retail and wholesale markets.
A lot of my friends I talked to made it through OK, but I had some eggplants planted, and they looked to be all dead, King said.
A freeze last month killed 10 acres of eggplants, so he had cut them back to the ground in order to encourage them to re-sprout. Some of them had grown anew, but this weeks cold cut them down again.
They were trying to grow again, and now, theyre dead, he said.
Similarly, there were a few survivors from the previous freeze left in his 10-acre field of jalapeno peppers, but Friday, they were lifeless, too.
Its just the time of year, you never know what will happen, said King.
He vowed to replant as soon as possible.
Citrus grower Gary Russ said his 450 acres of groves in East Manatee showed minor fruit damage and some foliage damage.
Its not serious, but itll affect next years crop because of the foliage, he said.
State meteorologist Ben Nelson said low-temperature records were set early Friday in Gainesville, with 21 degrees, and in Jacksonville, with 23 degrees.
Lakewood Ranch recorded low temperatures of 28 degrees overnight; Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport reported 32 degrees; and Ellenton reported 30 degrees, said Mike Clay, meteorologist for Bay News 9.
The record low at the airport was 28 degrees, recorded in 1996; recent temperatures did not break it, he said.
Record-keepers only consider the official temperature at the airport.
Statewide, officials said they were hearing reports of spot damage, particularly in the northern citrus belt in Lake, Highlands and Hardee counties, but that it would be difficult to fully assess the colds impact until there is more information.
Overall, we think we came through it all right, again, it kind of depends on what grower youre talking to, said Andrew Meadows, a spokesman for Florida Citrus Mutual, an organization that represents growers. Low-lying areas are particularly susceptible, they get colder.
Sara Kennedy, Bradenton Herald reporter, can be reached at (941) 708-7908.
