Falling temperatures damage fresh fruit

The price of fresh citrus will increase in price after $1 billion in crops were damaged. Despite the increased price of fruit, the price for orange juice might go down because of the bulk demand for oranges. Oranges, lemons and lettuce will be in higher demand for the next few weeks after freezing temperatures in California damaged a significant portion of the crops.

About $1 billion in crops were damaged by the weather.
Ella Fund, Goff freshman, shops in the citrus section at The Community Mercantile in Lawrence Saturday afternoon. Freezing temperatures in California recently caused about $1 billion in losses to citrus crops.


Ella Fund, Goff freshman, shops in the citrus section at The Community Mercantile in Lawrence Saturday afternoon. Freezing temperatures in California recently caused about $1 billion in losses to citrus crops.

Local grocery stores, such as Hy-Vee, get most of their fresh citrus crops and lettuce from California. Mark Johnston, produce manager at Hy-Vee, 3504 Clinton Parkway, said that the produce would still be in stock, just at higher prices.

“Our company warehouse was able to stock up,” Johnston said. “But the prices should go up in about a week.” Doug Kirk, assistant produce manager at Hy-Vee, 4000 W. 6th St., said that while more than 80 percent of the California citrus crop were destroyed, buying orange juice shouldn’t be a problem.

“A lot of the oranges, if they’re not on the tree real long, they can pull them off and use them for juice,” Kirk said. “Plus most of the oranges for juice come out of Florida.” Kirk said the price for orange juice might actually go down as the demand for bulk navel oranges increased.

California was not the only state that suffered from damaged citrus crops. “Texas grapefruits got frosted too; they’re done now,” Kirk said. “But every year less and less people are buying grapefruits anyway.”

Johnston said that even though citrus would be in shorter supply, avocados used to make guacamole for Super Bowl parties have been plentiful. “We’ve already stocked up on and blended all our guacamole,” Johnston said. “So there shouldn’t be a problem there.”

Source: kansan.com