Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Cold Snap Puts Florida's Citrus Crops at Risk

Aired January 24, 2003 - 06:32   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The Arctic express is also barreling the so-called Sunshine State, and let's go back to CNN's John Zarrella, who is trying to keep warm in a citrus grove -- John.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, I know for a lot of folks up north, they're probably laughing at us. You'd think that -- you know, this really isn't that bad down here, but if you're a citrus grower or a farmer, it certainly wasn't good news that this cold snap was coming.

But fortunately, at least down here in Immokalee in southwest Florida, the temperatures never got below 28 degrees for more than four hours. In fact, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) gotten out here is right now, right before daybreak here, 32 degrees. We're right at freezing now. We dropped another degree or so since the last half-hour.

But 25 percent of the state's orange crop is down here now in southwest Florida. That's because in the early '80s and mid-'80s, three devastating freezes in north and central Florida wiped out the citrus crops. Farmers moved south to get away from that real bitter cold.

Let me show you live here a little bit of what they're doing to try and protect their trees. You might be able to see, our viewers can see. This little bit of sprinkler system, irrigation running here on the trees. They've been running all night. That's puts a little moisture into the ground and actually warms the ground a little bit.

Now, the preparations like this began yesterday out in the fields, where they got the irrigation pumps running. Farmers out doing that in the orange crops. There's not much more that they can do. Some farmers run heaters. Sometimes they use helicopters to go overhead, stir up the air, try to keep it a little bit warmer.

In the vegetable fields yesterday, some of them were putting straw all around their plants, their tomatoes and their peppers, covering the pepper plants in some places here in the Immokalee area with a coating, a plastic covering to try and protect them from the cold. But again, it appears, at least, some good news.

Now, these are Valencia (ph) oranges, and these are real juice oranges, so when you go to the grocery and you get that orange juice either frozen or in the jug, this is what you're going to get. And what they look for when you have really bad weather is ice that forms inside here, ice pockets, and that ruins the oranges and completely destroys them. But nothing here today, so good news, at least in this part of the state that the weather did not get as cold as feared, and it appears that everything at least is OK, which means good news at the supermarket. Those orange juice prices may not go up -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Oh, that would be good news indeed. Thanks a lot, John -- appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.






Aired January 24, 2003 - 06:32   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The Arctic express is also barreling the so-called Sunshine State, and let's go back to CNN's John Zarrella, who is trying to keep warm in a citrus grove -- John.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, I know for a lot of folks up north, they're probably laughing at us. You'd think that -- you know, this really isn't that bad down here, but if you're a citrus grower or a farmer, it certainly wasn't good news that this cold snap was coming.

But fortunately, at least down here in Immokalee in southwest Florida, the temperatures never got below 28 degrees for more than four hours. In fact, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) gotten out here is right now, right before daybreak here, 32 degrees. We're right at freezing now. We dropped another degree or so since the last half-hour.

But 25 percent of the state's orange crop is down here now in southwest Florida. That's because in the early '80s and mid-'80s, three devastating freezes in north and central Florida wiped out the citrus crops. Farmers moved south to get away from that real bitter cold.

Let me show you live here a little bit of what they're doing to try and protect their trees. You might be able to see, our viewers can see. This little bit of sprinkler system, irrigation running here on the trees. They've been running all night. That's puts a little moisture into the ground and actually warms the ground a little bit.

Now, the preparations like this began yesterday out in the fields, where they got the irrigation pumps running. Farmers out doing that in the orange crops. There's not much more that they can do. Some farmers run heaters. Sometimes they use helicopters to go overhead, stir up the air, try to keep it a little bit warmer.

In the vegetable fields yesterday, some of them were putting straw all around their plants, their tomatoes and their peppers, covering the pepper plants in some places here in the Immokalee area with a coating, a plastic covering to try and protect them from the cold. But again, it appears, at least, some good news.

Now, these are Valencia (ph) oranges, and these are real juice oranges, so when you go to the grocery and you get that orange juice either frozen or in the jug, this is what you're going to get. And what they look for when you have really bad weather is ice that forms inside here, ice pockets, and that ruins the oranges and completely destroys them. But nothing here today, so good news, at least in this part of the state that the weather did not get as cold as feared, and it appears that everything at least is OK, which means good news at the supermarket. Those orange juice prices may not go up -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Oh, that would be good news indeed. Thanks a lot, John -- appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.