Irma’s wrath means higher food bills
Storm destroys 50% of citrus crop in prime region of southwest Florida
Hurricane Irma tore through Florida’s rich agricultural heartland, and now it’s going to shred consumers’ wallets at the supermarket.
Fruits and vegetables grown in southwest Florida — a prime region for citrus — and other parts of Florida could be in short supply after being hit by Irma. That will translate to higher prices in the grocery aisles for everything from tomatoes to orange juice.
The storm flooded fields and groves, blew oranges to the ground, twisted protective plastic, broke drip irrigation pipes and tubes and destroyed vegetable plants. Growers struggled to get water off their fields and groves.
The hurricane knocked 50% of the fruit off the region’s citrus trees, estimates Ron Hamel, executive vice president of the Gulf Citrus Growers Association. Statewide, he expects the losses to be in the same range, with at least half of this season’s crop wiped out.
“The whole state was in the hurricane-force winds,” he said. “But certain areas got heavier intensity.”
Many groves are still flooded, leaving already stressed trees standing in water and susceptible to more damage.
Tears came to Gene McAvoy’s eyes Tuesday as he surveyed the region’s farms and ranches. McAvoy, a multicounty vegetable agent with the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, knows the damage could have been much worse if Irma stayed a Category 4 or 5 storm with even higher winds.
At a West Coast tomato farm just north of Immokalee, Fla., McAvoy found 524 acres of plastic laid for tomato plantings was a loss, totaling more than $1 million. Some 25 acres of plants. The losses will set the farm back three weeks to a month on its planting schedule.
“It’s going to be an extensive amount of work just to get it redone,” McAvoy said.
For area vegetable growers, harvesting usually begins by mid-October, and a primary mission is to have plenty of vegetables in the market for Thanksgiving, one of their most lucrative times of the year when there isn’t as much competition from other U.S. regions or other countries, namely Mexico.
“We’ll be lucky to hit the Christmas market this year,” McAvoy said.
Frey Farms lost 95 acres of watermelons in LaBelle, McAvoy said. Other growers lost early
“This is definitely an event with very significant damage to the Florida citrus industry.”
Shannon Shepp, executive director of the Florida Department of Citrus
plantings of squash, cucumbers, peppers and eggplant.
Alfie Oakes, owner of Oakes Farms, estimates his vegetable crop losses at $1.4 million to $1.6 million. Everything he had planted in Immokalee is gone, he said.
At one farm, Oakes said his drip irrigation tape was torn out of the ground, dragged across the field and twisted, which he attributes to tornado activity. All of his 17 greenhouses collapsed.
“You always hope for the best. But it was pretty sad out there,” he said.
Fortunately, he moved the 5 million transplants that were in the greenhouses to safety ahead of the storm.
“This is definitely an event with very significant damage to the Florida citrus industry,” said Shannon Shepp, executive director of the Florida Department of Citrus. “Before Hurricane Irma there was a good chance we would have more than 75 million boxes of oranges on the trees this season. We now have much less.”
Fruit prices were climbing even before the storm hit.
“The prices to growers are certainly going to go up if they have fruit,” Hamel said. “But the question is how that’s all going to play out. Nobody knows.”
Before the storm, growers felt good about the upcoming season. Because of a wet winter last year, they saw a lot of fruit drop from a fungal disease.
“It’s a sad state of affairs for the industry after being optimistic going into the season and now having to start the season with a big fruit loss,” Hamel said.
There will be a ripple effect felt throughout the industry affecting processing facilities, packing houses and other related operations.
Despite his losses, Wayne Simmons, owner of the LaBelle Fruit, said he still feels fortunate.
“We surely got a lot of damage to the groves,” he said. “The house is good, and we’ll survive.”
Most of his trees are still standing. A Category 4 or 5 storm, he said, “would have just made tumbleweeds out of citrus trees.”