Belle Glade, FL, United States (AHN) – The record breaking early Florida freeze temperatures in December 2010 was devastating to the 2010-11 sugar cane crop’s results. Some estimates place production by some 20% and next year’s crop impacts still remains unknown.

Growers are unsure what the freeze events did to the viability of the seed cane.

The 114-day crop, the second shortest in Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative’s 49 year history, rivals that of the 1970-71 freeze-impacted season.

The 46 grower-members of the Cooperative produced 2,426,865 tons of sugarcane grown on 61,650 acres in Palm Beach County. This yielded 265,682 short tons raw value (STRV) and 17.4 million gallons of blackstrap molasses. Sugar yields dropped to 10.72%– a level not seen since the damage brought on by Hurricane Wilma in the 2005-06 crop—and a full point below the 11.73% yield achieved in 2003-04.

“The December freeze events were so severe and widespread that very little of the crop was un-impacted.” said George H. Wedgworth, President and CEO.

Generally most varieties of sugarcane are able to withstand freezing temperatures up to four hours before terminal bud damage occurs. However once the terminal bud freezes the sugarcane has to be rushed quickly from the field to the processing facility as the cane begins to deteriorates quickly.

Below freezing temperatures were recorded on three distinct occasions in December—December 7 and 8 with temperatures below 30 degrees for up to 9 hours. December 14 and 15 with temperatures below 28 degrees for over 12 hours; and December 27 and 28 with temperatures below 28 degrees for seven hours—a phenomenon never seen before in the Glades.

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