Florida Farm Bureau Statement on Arctic Weather Conditions

Florida agricultural producers across the state continue to take measures to protect crops, expecting freezing or near-freezing temperatures to continue for the balance of the week. Durations of freezing temperatures range from 5-7 hours inland and 2-4 hours near the coast. Florida residents should continue to protect people, pets and livestock as well as vegetation and pipes.

The State of Florida has eased highway restrictions to accommodate speedy harvest and transporting of crops vulnerable to the freezing weather. On Tuesday, Bronson requested that Governor Charlie Crist declare a state of emergency and issue an Executive Order directing the state Department of Transportation to relax the weight, height, length and width restrictions for commercial vehicles transporting vulnerable crops to processing sites. Governor Crist signed Executive Order No. 10-01, which took effect January 5, 2010, and remains in effect for 14 days. For more information about the weight, height, length and width restrictions for vehicles transporting crops on Florida’s highways, visit www.Florida-Agriculture.com

Freeze damage generally cannot be accurately assessed immediately after a freeze. It takes several days for freeze damage to crops to become apparent. The Florida Automated Weather Network (FAWN) provides real-time agricultural weather statistics for crop producing areas of the state and can be accessed at http://fawn.ifas.ufl.edu/

The Florida Farm Bureau Federation is the state’s largest general-interest agricultural association with about 140,000 member-families statewide. Headquartered in Gainesville, the Federation is an independent, nonprofit agricultural organization. More information about Florida Farm Bureau is available on the organization’s Web site, http://FloridaFarmBureau.org