On Wed, 13 Sep 2017 15:31:21 -0300, wrote:

>On Wed, 13 Sep 2017 10:51:29 -0600, U.S. Janet B. >
>wrote:
>
>>On Wed, 13 Sep 2017 13:19:30 -0300, wrote:
>>
>>>On Wed, 13 Sep 2017 10:02:58 -0600, U.S. Janet B. >
>>>wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>>Here's the after report
>>>>http://tinyurl.com/y8lvrn7q
>>>
>>>One of those ones, for USians only I guess
>>
>>? What do you mean? You can't click it or you disagree with the
>>report?
>>http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/marke...z&OCID=U457DHP
>>
>>looks like orange juice may be more expensive
>>Janet US
>
>No, when I clicked on the link it told me "We're sorry, this video
>cannot be played from your current location."

Here's the story, sorry about the video before.

Florida fruit growers and farmers have just barely begun to assess the
damage Hurricane Irma wrought on the state's citrus, sugar cane and
vegetable crops -- but they expect it will be significant.

With power and communications still out across much of Florida,
officials said Tuesday that getting a full picture will take weeks.
What remains unknown: Exactly how much damage the crops suffered, how
much producers might recover from crop insurance and how much more
people might pay for their morning orange juice.

Irma went right up the middle. It didn't matter where you were,
because Irma was so wide," said Mark Hudson, the Florida state
statistician with the National Agricultural Statistics Service.
Extension and Farm Service Agency agents have just started evaluating
the losses, he said, "if they can get fuel and if they can get out."

Florida's orange harvest usually begins around Thanksgiving, and
about 90 percent of it becomes juice. Projections for the 2016-2017
growing season had called for 68.5 million boxes of oranges and 7.8
million boxes of grapefruit. The orange crop was worth over $886
million, according to USDA figures, while the grapefruit crop was
worth nearly $110 million.

Lisa Lochridge, a spokeswoman for the Florida Fruit and Vegetable
Association, said reports indicate a 50 percent to 70 percent crop
loss in South Florida, depending on the region, with losses "only
slightly less going north." Joel Widenor, co-founder of Commodity
Weather Group, forecast the overall orange crop loss at 10 percent and
the grapefruit loss at 20 percent to 30 percent. He estimated sugar
cane losses at 10 percent."Before Hurricane Irma, there was a good
chance we would have more than 75 million boxes of oranges on the
trees this season, we now have much less," said Shannon Stepp,
executive director of the Florida Department of Citrus. Initial
reports indicate Irma's winds knocked lot of fruit to the ground but
uprooted relatively few trees, which will help growers in the long
term.
The sugar cane harvest was expected to begin Oct. 1. Producers had
anticipated a "very good" crop of around 2.1 million tons, said Ryan
Weston, CEO of the Florida Sugar Cane League. Aerial observations this
week should start showing how much was knocked down, he said.

Florida is a key source of fresh fruits and vegetables for the rest of
the country in the winter. In many cases those crops aren't in the
ground yet, or it's early enough to replant. But particularly for
tomatoes and strawberries, Lochridge said, some fields about to be
planted were damaged. So she said the tomato crop is expected to be
light in early November, though officials expect a solid December.
Strawberry growers expect to recover quickly and harvest on time, she
said.

"A big concern for growers is finding available workers to help them
in their recovery efforts," Lochridge said. "The labor supply was
already very tight."
Frozen orange juice concentrate futures, which provide a glimpse at
what might happen to consumer prices, spiked last week as Irma bore
down but slipped this week. Coca-Cola (KO), whose brands include
Minute Maid and Simply juices, said its juice operations are already
back up and running.The U.S. Department of Agriculture will issue its
first forecast of Florida's 2017-18 citrus crop on Oct. 12. The
state's industry has been decimated in past years by citrus greening
disease, which cuts yields and turns fruit bitter. The harvest has
fallen by more than 70 percent since the disease was discovered in
Florida in 2005, Lochridge said, and the resulting higher prices for
consumers haven't made up for the losses to growers.

Chet Townsend, editor of the Citrus Daily newsletter who also owns a
five-acre grove near Fort Denaud in southwestern Florida, got his
first good look at the damage driving around his area Tuesday morning.

"I've never seen so much fruit down," he said, "even after a freeze."