“Working with the Texas International Produce Association, we estimated a loss of more than $42 million in sales of onions, more than $27 million in sales of leafy greens, more than $20 million in sales of watermelons and more than $15 million in sales of cabbage,” he said. Zapata said a low estimate based on losses from sales of those and other vegetable crops in that part of the state alone would be at least $150 million. “The main vegetable crop damage we saw was to onions, then to leafy greens, including spinach, collard greens and kale, and then to watermelons,” he said. Samuel Zapata, AgriLife Extension economist, Weslaco, said there were notable vegetable losses throughout the area. There were also warm-season crops of potatoes and watermelons planted for early harvest devastated by the freezing weather. Other Crops Blasted By Freezing WeatherĪlong with their citrus losses, Rio Grande Valley and other South Texas producers also suffered some significant losses in terms of both cold- and warm-season vegetable crops.Ĭool-season vegetable crops like leafy greens, beets, cabbage and celery were lost. Ribera said while the effects of the storm likely will impact grapefruit availability and prices in the future, it probably won’t have a significant impact on orange prices due to large supplies available from Florida and California. “If those producers choose to replant, it will be three to five years before those new plants will begin to yield fruit,” Anciso said. Juan Anciso, AgriLife Extension horticulturist based at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Weslaco, said about 200 acres of lemons and limes produced in South Texas were destroyed completely because those plants were more sensitive to cold weather than other types of citrus. “That estimate also included longer-term losses from next year’s crops, but it did not include the cost of citrus plants that could die or remain badly damaged by the freeze and have to be replaced,” he said. “If they must be replaced, it will be several years before those new citrus trees are able to bear fruit, so the losses could be much more.” Ribera said the AgriLife Extension estimate for citrus losses came out to around $230 million and was based primarily on losses in the Rio Grande Valley during the storm. “Even more citrus crops would have been lost had many not been harvested before the storm,” he said. He said citrus producers in the Rio Grande Valley lost virtually all of their Valencia orange crop and more than 60% of their grapefruit crop. The Texas agricultural sector that suffered one of biggest overall losses from Winter Storm Uri was the citrus industry, said Luis Ribera, AgriLife Extension economist, Bryan-College Station. “What we can say is these figures are conservative and we expect more losses as a long-term effect of this disaster.” “There are still many as yet unknown and lingering effects of Winter Storm Uri,” he said. Waller said the agency can currently only provide a general range of loss or estimated overall loss for the state’s agricultural sectors. “The data we used to determine these agricultural losses came from farmers, ranchers and other commercial producers throughout the state as well as others involved in or supporting production agriculture in Texas,” said Mark Waller, associate head of Texas A&M University’s Department of Agricultural Economics. It will be several weeks before there is sufficient data to provide an assessment of those losses. AgriLife Extension, in collaboration with the Texas Nursery and Landscape Association, developed and distributed a loss assessment survey to more than 4,000 nursery, greenhouse and other green industry-related businesses requesting input on the type and extent of losses encountered. And the residual costs from the disaster could plague many producers for years to come.”ĪgriLife Extension estimates that the following sectors were among the state’s biggest agricultural losses by commodity:Īnother agricultural sector that experienced significant losses was the green industry. “Freezing temperatures and ice killed or harmed many of their crops and livestock as well as causing financial hardships and operational setbacks. “A large number of Texas farmers, ranchers and others involved in commercial agriculture and agricultural production were seriously affected by Winter Storm Uri,” said Jeff Hyde, AgriLife Extension director, Bryan-College Station.
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