From The Harvester, January 1990

Citrus grower H. Jennings Rou II cuts open a frozen orange during the Christmas freeze of 1989.

While most people spent Christmas watching football games and visiting with relatives, Florida’s farmers were keeping tabs on the Arctic air barreling toward the state. Their worst fears became a reality Dec. 24-25 as the temperatures dipped into the teens in some parts of the state. What may be the bitterest freeze in Florida history left the state with widespread power outages in addition to the devastation of the agricultural industry. There was not a section of the state that did not get hit.

As of Jan. 11, the governor asked President Bush to declare seven South Florida counties disaster areas because of widespread vegetable losses.

A presidential declaration would make Broward, Collier, Dade, Hendry, Lee, Monroe and Palm Beach counties eligible for disaster unemployment to farm workers and low-interest loans to growers.

Copies of the executive order signed by Gov. Martinez have been sent to Secretary of Agriculture Clayton Yeutter.

Secretary Yeutter arrived in Florida on Jan. 3 and on the fifth toured the freeze-damaged areas from Leesburg through Lakeland to LaBelle and on to Belle Glade, where the Secretary visited with growers including FFVA past presidents Jeff Gargiulo and Frank Teets. Gov. Martinez joined the growers’ meeting in Belle Glade. FFVA’s general manager accompanied the Secretary and Congressman Tom Lewis on the plane trip from Leesburg to Belle Glade and return. Secretary Yeutter stated that he was astounded at the magnitude of the damage. But, the Secretary said Gov. Martinez’s appeal for federal disaster relief would hinge on the technical appraisals by local USDA officials, not on his brief visit to the Central Florida groves. However, he stated the stop “confirms the general magnitude of damage and indicates the high probability of disaster declarations for very substantial areas.”

In a letter to Secretary Yeutter, FFVA General Manager George Sorn observed:

1. This was probably the worst ever freeze in recent Florida history with vegetable damage in varying degrees almost throughout the state and severe tree damage at least in Central Florida. Your ASCS reports, we feel, will bear this out.
2. FFVA growers are not so much interested in the grower benefits associated with the declaration of a cisaster as they are in the workers’ benefits. Workers are in need of assistance now. It is important the benefits terminate as our growers go back into volume production in February and March.
3. Crop insurance needs to be seriously revisited before final 1990 Farm Bill promulgations. About 30 percent of the tomato growers did have crop insurance but the percentage is high only because many bank lenders insisted growers obtain it as a pre-condition to obtaining loans. We understand the percentage of citrus growers who availed themselves of crop insurance was less than 10 percent. Either the USDA or the House Ag Committee should visit Florida and talk firsthand to growers who did have insurance and those who did not to get a better feel on how crop insurance could be made more workable.
4. The importance of effective chemicals for crop production has been accentuated by the freeze. Natural predators of our insects and diseases were killed by the cold temperatures. In addition, there is some evidence that the inability to use EBDCs in this crop season weakened some crops and made them more susceptible to cold temperatures. (Note: Ethylenebisdithiocarbamates (EBDCs) are used on a wide range of crops world wide including potatoes, cereals, apples, pears, and leafy vegetables. They control many fungal diseases such as blight, leaf spot, rust, downy mildew and scab.) We appreciate that a group of industry leaders will visit Deputy Secretary Parnell on Feb. 1 as well as representatives of EPA and FDA. The continued use of EBDCs and the general topic of effective pest management is on the agenda. Fruit and vegetable producers also need more concentrated and increased research to ensure the very minimal use of chemicals in fruit and vegetable production without loss of U.S. production.
5. Increased border enforcement of fruits and vegetables to ensure the increased volume of fruits and vegetables imported into the U.S. because of the freeze or other factors, meet the same high standards as must be met by U.S. producers.

Sorn further appealed to the Secretary stating, “Although I can only officially speak for the Florida fruit and vegetable growers whom FFVA represents, we do believe that other state and regional associations also feel that the U.S. fruit and vegetable industry is not sufficiently recognized for its contribution both to the economy and the health of the nation. If the national agenda dictates a more safe supply of food be produced in the U.S., then much more USDA research needs to be directed to assist growers to grow fruits and vegetables that fill this national agenda. We feel the supply of U.S.-grown fruits and vegetables is safe; we hope USDA, EPA and FDA also feel it is safe. However, even if ALL the agencies feel it is safe, that may not be enough to satisfy the national agenda and growers need help. They cannot do it alone.

FFVA and, we hope, other similar organizations, will soon be working toward better recognition of fruit and vegetable production in the 1990 Farm Bill. We may also be working for a Congressional Fruit and Vegetable Caucus. We ask your assistance in both efforts.

On Jan. 11, Bob Terry, citrus statistician with the Florida Agricultural Statistics Service, projected a 29 percent loss in the orange crop. Based on last season’s crop values, the orange loss would total more than $278 million, and the grapefruit loss would surpass $27 million.

And what are the growers themselves doing to rebound from the devastation? They start all over again. Replanting and transplanting has begun in most of the growing areas, in preparation for the spring harvest. It will be two or three months before replanted vegetable crops can be harvested  (barring another freeze), but it will probably be many years before the lost citrus crops will be restored and come full circle once again.