Florida governor declares emergency for cold crops

The orange juice futures rose to the highest level in more than three years after Florida, the largest U.S. producer fruit, declared a state of emergency due to the threat of severe cold and crop damage.

orange crop in Florida is at risk of "light" damage caused by freezing temperatures tonight, said Jason Nicholls, senior meteorologist at AccuWeather Inc. The state also grows sugarcane and strawberries.

Orange juice for January delivery rose the exchange limit of 10 cents, or 6.2 percent, to $ 1.706 a pound on ICE Futures 8:29 am U.S. New York, the highest price for a most-active contract since May 2007. Raw materials has risen 32 percent this year on concern that dry and cold weather damaged crops in Florida.

"The coldest night is actually tonight," said Nichols. "There could be light damage" to oranges, he said, declining to provide a specific estimate. "The biggest problem will be for vegetables and strawberries."

Florida Governor Charles Crist declared a state of emergency on December 10 due to the threat of damage to crops. Which threatens the destruction of Florida with a "great disaster," said Crist in a statement on the website of the Florida government. Some areas may be subject to freezing through December 15, the statement said, citing National Weather Service forecast.

Temperatures in the central and northern Florida grows oranges could fall to 26 degrees Celsius (minus 3.3 degrees Celsius) to 34 degrees Fahrenheit tonight, said Nicholls. Oranges can be damaged when temperatures fall below 28 degrees Fahrenheit for several hours or more.

Temperatures during the night

nighttime temperatures in Florida dropped to 36 to 45 degrees Fahrenheit last night, said meteorologist.

"Tonight could be a small problem," said Nichols. "If you reduce to 26, is only a few hours. Some of the southern areas will have less than 32," he said. "Tomorrow we will not see much of a problem."

Florida produced 143 million boxes of oranges in the harvest that began in October and runs through July, compared to an estimate made in October of 146 million boxes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on 10 December. The previous year's harvest was 133 600 000 boxes.

Moving crops to processing sites is necessary to save them from destruction, and restrictions on commercial vehicles that transport needs to be relaxed, "said Crist.