WILMA'S IMPACT COULD AFFECT RETAIL PRODUCE PRICES

Julie Gallagher

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Consumers could pay more for oranges and orange juice as a result of Hurricane Wilma's impact on citrus crops, the Florida Department of Agriculture said last week.

Though producers had not yet determined the full extent of hurricane-related losses, one early estimate showed citrus groves in Wilma's path suffered a loss of 15% of their fruit. Officials predicted any reduction in the citrus supply would drive up prices.

"Last year, Florida endured four major storms that devastated our citrus," Terence McElroy, press secretary at the Department of Agriculture, told SN.

"Those groves were coming back this year and they were hit again so this is definitely not good news," he said. "We won't know the [exact] effect on price until we identify the extent of the damage."

The price of vegetables may also be affected.

"It's not only citrus that's in danger," McElroy said. "Florida grows 60% to 70% of all the domestically grown [winter] fruits and vegetables in this country. We anticipate that there will be damage there as well."

The department projects that Wilma-related damage "will most likely" cost the counties of Palm Beach, Collier and Hendry $276 million to replant vegetables destroyed by the storm, said department spokesman Frost Burke. The figure doesn't include fruits.

Officials speculated certain crops, such as strawberries, okra, watermelon, cucumbers, eggplant, melons and squash, may have been spared the wrath of Wilma.

"Producers either dug out these vegetables in anticipation of the storm or they've already been harvested," Burke said.

State officials were starting to assess the damage. Last week, Charles Bronson, the state's agriculture commissioner, and Tom Gallagher, Florida's chief financial officer, took a helicopter flyover of the hurricane-stricken areas in the southeastern part of the state.