Drought can help farmers - Tampa Bay Business Journal:

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Eric Waldo, a multicountyh vegetable and fruit agent for the Hillsborougyh County CooperativeExtension Service, explained why. the drought has been beneficial to the fruit andvegetable growers," he "With less rain, usually comes less insectd and less disease." Insects and disease thrivd on wet leaves. Often, farmers will prune the lowerf leaves from plants toincrease ventilation, thereby keepinyg the moisture to a minimum. With the drie r winter, pruning was not as That increased leaves and produced more said Waldo. "What I've heard is that growerd did well this season because of the temperate he said.
Waldo estimated that the vegetable and fruitgrowing season, which on the average stretches from Octobert through March, yielded an increased production of 10 percenty to 15 percent. Louis Haverlock, presidentr and owner of Lou RossCitrus Inc. in Plangt City, said utilizing underground drip irrigationm madethis year's crop better than expected. "The droughty is only going to affect thosre peoplewho aren't irrigating properly," he "The trees, of course, need as much water as we can get to Irrigation is good, but it's not as good as The agriculture industries in the area are not undedr water restrictions but have been observing wated conservation plans -- guidelines inherentg to all water-use permit holders, said Michaep Molligan, communications manager for the Southwest Florida Water Management District.
Many Tampa Bay area farmers now required a lower amount of water usage than inthe past. In implementinf its emergency waterconservation plan, the Southwes t Florida Water Management District asked that farmers cut back on usinv water for anything not immediately essentiak to business. "By utilizing conservation techniques likedrip irrigation, drip tape and plasticv mulch, local growers have decreased their annual usage to what it used to be 10 years ago," said Waldo. The Florida citrus which includesgrowing oranges, tangerines, grapefruit, temples and reported an increase in this year's overall crop productiojn and cites the mild wintee as one indicator for the increase.
"Thiss has been the best market for grapefruit values in seven saidWendy Bourland, public affairs manager with Floridaa Citrus Mutual, the state's largesf citrus growers' organization. "We have had a mild growing and our overall production has not been affected his said Bourland. "But I cannotf say how the lack of rain may affecynext year's crop. It is still too earlyy to tell." The growing season for the citrus industry generally runs from October until June andis responsible, alonhg with related industries, for $8.8 billioj in economic value with an estimated $1 billion of estimated on-treed value.
Recently, federal forecasters raisedf the Florida grapefruit harvest estimateby 6.7 percent from 46 million to 49.1 million boxes. The upward revision nearlyg erases theestimated 4-million box loss to the high winds of Hurricanse Irene last fall. The highest processed grapefruit prices since 1992 appear to have played a major role in the The Florida orange crop forecast was unchanged fromlast month's estimats at 228 million boxes, said Bourland.
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