| MIAMI (AP) - Temperatures dipped to 16 degrees Friday as
Florida's worst cold spell in 11 years slid into its third week and
farmers looked at extensive damage to sugarcane, tomatoes and other crops.
U.S. Sugar Corp. said many of its 420,000 acres of sugar cane in Palm
Beach and Hendry counties may be lost.
``We'll be looking at significant damage,'' spokeswoman Judy Sanchez
said.
The multimillion-dollar citrus industry has fared better, said Mike
Carlton with Florida Citrus Mutual. Some growers actually sprayed their
citrus crops with water to freeze them to protect them from more damaging
cold air.
Thursday was the coldest night of the winter so far in Florida and the
Panhandle recorded its coldest December in a decade. The lowest
temperature was 16 degrees in Brooksville, 50 miles north of Tampa.
``The records were not only broken, they were shattered,'' said
National Weather Service (news - web sites) meteorologist Jim Lushine in
Miami, adding that warmer weather is expected this weekend.
Farmers in southwest Florida, the state's largest tomato growing
region, reported extensive damage.
``We're hopeful that we haven't lost the entire crop,'' said Pat
Cockrell, the agricultural policy director for the Florida Farm Bureau, a
farm advocacy group.
Tomato farmers in Miami-Dade County and near West Palm Beach reported
little or no damage, but the Florida Tomato Committee warned prices may go
up slightly over the next two months because of the decreased supply.
Officials said the extent of the damage would be known within weeks. |