Florida Cold Snap Hurts Fish Farms Worse Than Citrus


It’s been a long cold snap,. It’s starting to fray on everybody’s nerves. —Andrew Meadows, a spokesman for Florida Citrus Mutual

January 7, 2010
By Elizabeth Campbell
Bloomberg

A cold snap in Florida that threatens the state’s citrus and vegetable crops may do the most damage to tropical-fish farms, the largest producers of the ornamental animals in the U.S., according to a trade group.

“I expect that this freeze is going to be devastating,” said Arthur Rawlins, the president of the Florida Tropical Fish Farms Association. “It’ll take months to overcome.”

Citrus growers reported some fruit dropped from trees as temperatures reached lows early today, said Terence McElroy, a state spokesman. Damage also occurred in winter vegetable crops, which include tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and beans, he said. Farming, the state’s largest industry after tourism, generates about $100 billion a year in economic activity, he said.

Farmers have reported “serious problems and a good deal of deaths of some of these tropical fish,” McElroy said. The fish are mostly raised in open-air freshwater ponds in central Florida, according to the industry group’s Web site.

The fish become stressed when water temperatures reach about 62 degrees Fahrenheit (17 Celsius), Rawlins said. As temperatures fall, the fish are less likely to survive and at 55 degrees or lower, they die, he said. Rawlins farms tropical fish on about 16 acres in Lithia, Florida. Growers in the state produce about $33 million of the ornamental animals, he said.

About 90 percent of the state’s fish farmers are in Hillsborough County, Rawlins said. His group lists 231 members on its Web site. Tampa is in Hillsborough County.

Tampa Matches Record

Tampa International Airport matched a record low of 36 degrees for this date early today, said Todd Barron, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Florida. The record was set in 1969, he said.

The cold will probably hurt the tropical-fish industry more than others, said McElroy, who works at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The industry mostly sells fish to retailers that cater to hobbyists.

“We, so far, have not received any reports of any devastation or catastrophic losses” from citrus growers, McElroy said.

Minimal damage was reported today from the state’s orange groves, according to Rusty Wiygul, the director of grower affairs at Florida Citrus Mutual, a trade organization in Lakeland. Low temperatures in most growing areas averaged 29 to 36 degrees, said Dale Mohler, a senior meteorologist at AccuWeather Inc. in State College, Pennsylvania.

‘Spotty’ Crop Damage

“We probably will sustain some damage to some of the crops, but it’s spotty,” McElroy said. Florida is the world’s largest orange producer after Brazil, and the biggest citrus grower in the U.S.

Orange-juice futures for March delivery fell 0.9 cent, or 0.6 percent, to $1.4115 a pound on ICE Futures U.S. in New York, falling for the second straight day on signs that the cold weather did minimal damage to Florida’s citrus groves.

Florida also produces 90 percent of U.S. winter vegetables, as the season’s temperatures in most other growing areas are too low for the crops, Liz Compton, an agriculture department spokeswoman, said by e-mail. Florida sells more fresh tomatoes than any other state and is the nation’s biggest producer of bell peppers, grapefruit and sugar cane, she said.

“It’s been a long cold snap,” said Andrew Meadows, a spokesman for Florida Citrus Mutual. “It’s starting to fray on everybody’s nerves.”


-- With assistance from Rudy Ruitenberg in Paris. Editors: Ted Bunker, Steve Stroth.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-01-07/florida-cold-snap-hurts-fish-farms-worse-than-citrus-update1-.html