Long-Term Impacts Likely for Texas Ag in Wake of Winter Storm
Early assessments from three top South Texas citrus-producing counties indicate the state will suffer significant citrus crop losses due to the recent winter storm and freezing weather.
Initial estimates from Texas Citrus Mutual based on crop loss information provided by Cameron, Hidalgo, and Willacy counties have put total citrus industry losses at no less than $300 million.
“Rio Grande Valley producers had already harvested about 80% of their orange crop and about 67% of their grapefruit crop before the storm, but what remained was all lost,” says Juan Anciso, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Horticulturist based in Weslaco.
He said not only this year’s crop was affected, but many producers will lose the next citrus crop as well.
A number of vegetable crops also were negatively impacted by the winter storm.
“A lot of cool-season vegetable crops such as leafy greens, especially Swiss chard, as well as beets, cabbage and celery, were also lost,” Anisco says. “We also had some warm-season crops, which we planted early for an early harvest, devastated by the weather.”
The warm-season crops included potatoes, which were planted for harvest from mid-March to the end of April, and watermelons, which were planted for harvest from mid-April to early June.
Anisco says more information on total crop losses for the Rio Grande Valley is being compiled from AgriLife Extension agents and others familiar with that area’s agricultural production and will be forthcoming.
According to Larry Stein, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension horticulturist based in Uvalde, the future of fruit production for the Hill Country and Texas Winter Garden areas is another “hurry-up-and-wait situation.”
“Right now, it looks like there has been some crown damage on the strawberry plants in this area and there have been some losses, but if the weather holds, those losses shouldn’t be too great overall,” he says. “And as far as the area’s peaches, plums, apples, pears, grapes, and other fruits are concerned, we can probably expect a lower yield as a longer-term result of the damage inflicted by this extended cold spell.”
For more, continue reading at AgriLifeToday.Tamu.edu.
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