The downpour that hit the southern part of Florida at the end of January has kept growers out of the fields. It's the latest in a winter with lots of rain, and the production setbacks from the weather could affect supplies of vegetables all the way up to Easter.“Some areas that got a lot of rain have fields that are filled with water,” explained Tom Nicholson with Ben-Bud Growers. “A lot of the fields are on systems that can pump out the water, but anything planted right before the rain, that got drowned.” The most recent storm is the most recent in a weather pattern that's dumped a large amount of rain on the state's vegetable growers.
“The rain has slowed our business drastically,” said Emilio Mirza Khani with the Homestead Pole Bean Cooperative. “With corn, which is our main product, 60 to 70 percent of that product is just lost.” While the water that closed out January is troublesome, it's the persistent rain that has really hurt the area's production. It's hurt yields, and the effects of decreased production could ripple out for months to come.
“The long term effects of this will go into April,” said Nicholson. “For items like beans or corn, which are on a 90-day cycle, there's going to be less product for Easter.”