Report your Freeze Damage Losses

It is important to report any freeze damages you have to our local USDA Farm Service Agency offices.  This will help determine disaster levels and possible policy changes to assist ag producers.  Our Hillsborough County office is:  

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY FARM SERVICE AGENCY

201 S COLLINS ST STE 201

PLANT CITY, FL 33563

(813) 752-1474 ext 2

Polk County office is:

POLK COUNTY FARM SERVICE AGENCY

1700 HWY 17 S

BARTOW, FL 33830

863) 533-2051 ext 2 UF is also assisting with damage reporting to measure the impact to help inform decision makers.  This is what was sent by Dr. Christa Court Ag Economist with UF/IFAS... My program supports the State Emergency Board for Florida by attending their meetings to share the information that my program has on the weather event, the affected agricultural acreage, and results that are coming in through the UF/IFAS Agricultural Damage and Loss Assessment. So, they will have this information available to inform the overall process, but it cannot be used to determine county/state eligibility for the Secretarial disaster designation. My information is typically used to determine if there are additional counties or crops that did not have individual reports coming into a county/region USDA-FSA office that might make the county eligible for a Secretarial disaster designation, which means an area or commodity should be investigated further before a final decision is made. This (and other uses in meetings with and decisions being made by the Office of the Governor, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the USDA, and others) is why I always describe the UF/IFAS assessment as complementary to reporting losses and damages to USDA-FSA, even though the two efforts are asking for much of the same information. I have been trying for 8+ years to overcome duplicate efforts and barriers to data sharing across organizations and we have made great strides, but aren't yet to the ultimate goal of having agricultural operations only have to report this information once. It has been a rough couple of weeks weatherwise and I hope you made it through without too much loss. Just make sure to be proactive and report your losses or call Shawn at the Extension Office and I can work with you to report your losses.

Cold Protect with a Chemical Spray

I read this in Science Daily.  Apparently you can get 2-9 F degrees of protection.  Here is a link to the full article of the selection from below from Science Daily.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111214135814.htm

"A report published in HortTechnology premiered the novel topical spray developed to increase resistance to both cold damage and cold mortality in plant foliage, flowers, and fruits. According to David Francko, Dean of the Graduate School and Professor of Biology at the University of Alabama, the patent-pending formula has been commercialized under the trade name FreezePruf.
The spray is composed of ingredients that are non-toxic to plants, humans, and animals. "The components of the laboratory spray formulation and FreezePruf are all either human food ingredients or used in the human food production chain," said Francko. He said that the spray actually improves plants' natural ability to tolerate freezing conditions.
The researchers tested the spray on a wide variety of foliage, flowers, and fruits. Data showed that both the laboratory formulation and the commercial version of the spray decreased the first damage temperature and the mortality temperature of the plants. "We noted beneficial effects within hours of application," Francko remarked. "Our results suggested that the spray formulation could add the equivalent of approximately 0.25 to almost 1.0 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone to the cold hardiness rating of the plants used in the experiments."

Here is a link to FreezePruf information http://pro.liquidfence.com/ecologic/freeze-pruf.html

SWFWMD Open House on New Rules

This in from SWFWMD

Public Open House

August 23, 2011 6:00 pm
Hillsborough Community College Trinkle Center
1206 North Park Road, Plant City, FL 33563
www.WaterMatters.org/frost-freeze

The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s new water use permitting rules for the Dover/Plant City area took effect in June. These rules affect water use permit holders with crops that require frost/freeze protection. The new rules are one component of the District’s comprehensive freeze management plan, which was developed to significantly reduce impacts from groundwater pumpage during future frost/freeze events.

The District developed the new rules in response to the unprecedented January 2010 freeze event, as well as previous freeze events, which resulted in dry wells and sinkholes. Public input and technical expert and stakeholder participation were a significant part of the rule development process.

The District is hosting a Public Open House where staff will be available to answer individual questions from both homeowners and growers about the new rules and the freeze management plan.
Staff will be on hand to answer questions on various topics, including:
· Well and casing depth requirements for new residential wells
· Reporting dry well complaints
· The new allocation process for investigating and assigning dry well complaints
· New metering requirements
· Automatic Meter Reading Devices
· Alternative freeze protection incentives through the FARMS Program
· Water use permit (WUP) applications, renewals and modifications in the Dover/Plant City water use caution area

If you have questions regarding this Public Open House or if you no longer wish to receive information on the Dover/Plant City rule implementation, please contact Carol Lynch by email at Carol.Lynch@WaterMatters.org or by phone at (352) 796-7211, ext. 4336, or via US Mail at SWFWMD-PMO, 2379 Broad Street, Brooksville, FL 34604.

SWFWMD New Rules for Frost/Freeze Irrigation in Dover/Plant City Area

This in from SWFWMD Community Affairs...
The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s new regulatory rules took effect today for existing and future water use permit holders in the Dover/Plant City area with crops that require frost/freeze protection.


The District developed the new rules in response to the unprecedented 11-day January 2010 freeze event, which resulted in more than 750 dry wells and more than 140 sinkholes. The new rules are one component of a District’s comprehensive freeze management plan, which was developed to significantly reduce impacts from future frost/freeze events.
Here is what SWFWMD is doing.

1.  Declaring a 256-square-mile water use caution area in the Dover/Plant City area.
2.  Establishing a minimum aquifer level and Minimum Aquifer Level Protection Zone

3.  Developing a recovery strategy to help meet the minimum aquifer level
4.  Requiring Automatic Meter Reading Devices

5.  Creating a new process for allocating dry well complaints


For more information on the new regulatory rules or the District’s freeze management plan, visit www.WaterMatters.org/frost-freeze/.

Misting Water to Protect from Cold

Here is an article I read from physorg.com written by Tom Nordlie. It is about research that Dr. Bob Stamps has been working on for the last few years looking at misters and foggers in protected structures to provide cold protection. I've copied the important stuff below.

"Now, a three-year study by University of Florida researchers suggests it would be more cost-effective to heat shade houses with water, using devices called foggers and misters that emit clouds of tiny airborne droplets.
The results were published in the current issue of the journal HortScience.
“This seems to be a very efficient way to heat in subtropical climates (in shade houses and greenhouses),” said Bob Stamps, an environmental horticulture professor with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. “The systems are so much less expensive than heaters and reduce fossil fuel consumption.”
Misters and foggers are widely available and commonly used to irrigate plants and reduce air temperature in hot weather, Stamps said. Misters emit water droplets averaging about 150 microns in diameter; droplets from foggers average 90 microns. A micron is one one-millionth of a meter.
Depending on the season, well water can accomplish either heating or cooling because it has the same temperature year-round, ranging from about 70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
In chilly weather, the tiny droplets quickly radiate heat into the air, because they have a large amount of surface area relative to their overall volume.
The study involved two types of misters and two foggers in commercial nurseries during three winters. They kept shade houses warm enough to protect all but one genus of plant, from at least nine tested.
With water conservation a major issue in Florida, UF researchers are eager to find ways of minimizing the amount needed to protect crops.
One fogging system evaluated in the study used only about 750 gallons per acre per hour, compared with 5,000 gallons for one of the misters. Stamps said the research team would like to investigate whether the devices can protect plants when used intermittently, which could save more water."

If you would like to read the rest of the article click on the following link: http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-11-fogging-misting-ornamental-foliage-cold.html

La Nina

It looks like we are in the La Nina climate cycle of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) this winter and predictions are that it will extend into the spring. This means that we are generally going to experience a warmer and drier than average winter. What does that mean for my neck of the woods and what does that mean for my production of plants? How will my operation be affected? Well here are some things to think about.

Here are some graphs that will better explain the averages. Remember that these are averages!

This graph shows the La Nina years and how that compares to the normal average.

This graph shows higher than usual temperatures during the winter for the Tampa area when looking at the averages of the La Nina years.

I find that this is an interesting graph as it shows that we might have more freezes than usual depending upon whether or not the La Nina is strong or weak even though overall winter temperatures may be warmer.

How does this affect production? If you are scheduling plants for a particular week remember the growing degree days will be higher and therefore development of plants will be more rapid. It means that you will probably use more water as water loss from the plants is a function of temperature. That might mean that your costs might be slightly higher for production. It means that you will more rapidly use fertilizer if you are using controlled release fertilizers. It means that spring sales will probably start a little earlier and you should have your labor lined up for production, shipping, and delivery. It means pests may stick around longer and start earlier and you will need to be vigilant. It means you shouldn't think that freezes wont be a problem this winter. They might and you will need to keep an ear to the forecast. I'm sure that you can probably think of a few other ways that this climate phenomenon will affect production. If you like please share with the other readers of this blog and post a comment!

For more economic analysis on climate data refer to my previous post about climate by clicking on the label heading called "climate" on the side bar of this blog.

SWFWMD Plant City Freeze Management Plan

To minimize the potential harmful affects of pumping too much water during freeze events in the Plant City/Dover area SWFWMD has proposed new rules. Here is a list of the proposals for this area.

1. The management district will create a new water use caution area (WUCA) in the Dover/Plant City area. It will encompass a 256 sq. mile water use caution area from McIntosh east to the county line and bounded on the North at Knights Griffin and continue south to Keysville road. SWFWMD will put limitations on new ground water requests, and implement a strategy to minimize loss of the aquifer during a freeze event.

2. All new residential well consturction within the WUCA will need to be dug deeper and have a greater casing depth.

3. SWFWMD will communicate to residents before a freeze event using media, letters, and phone calls to alert residents to turn off their pumps.

4. SWFWMD will allocate dry well repairs in a more equitable fashion.

5. SWFWMD will expanding the FARMS Program and increasing incentives for alternative frost/freeze protection methods.

6. SWFWMD will increased groundwater monitoring through drilling new monitoring wells and putting meters on all existing wells in the area to record water use and temperatures during a freeze event.

Here is the SWFWMD website that has all the information and potential rules affecting the area.

http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/agriculture/freeze-management/

If you would like to comment to SWFWMD about these rule changes 9/24/10 is the deadline. Send emails to Pamela.gifford@watermatters.org

Plam Production Classes

For those of you who may have had some damage with the freezes to traditionally cold tolerant palms, you may want to pull the damaged spear leaf from the top of the palm to expose and dry out the apical bud. You should also follow up with a copper fungicide spray to eliminate the possibility of pathogens from infecting the exposed growing point.

Here is an IFAS publication about treating cold damaged palms: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/mg318

There is also an opportunity to learn more about palm production from the experts at UF/IFAS. There will be a two day course on the production of palms.

Here is the link to Dr. Elliot's class at Leu Gardens.

http://cfextension.ifas.ufl.edu/documents/PalmManagementTraining-March2010_2_.pdf

Some of the topics are:

Topics: (classroom presentations and field trip to palm gardens on site)
􀁹 Diagnosing Palm Problems 􀁹 Palm Insects
􀁹 Palm Anatomy and Growth 􀁹 Palm Diseases
􀁹 Physiological Disorders 􀁹 Normal Abnormalities
􀁹 Nutrient Deficiencies 􀁹 Fertilizer Formulations & Techniques
􀁹 Transplant Issues 􀁹 Pruning Palms