Forecast temps have moderated slightly expecting 31-32 for tonight with wind and no frost. Wednesday a degree or two warmer because of cloud cover moving in but slight chance of frost. Should not be an issue for our citrus but chance of damage to our peach bloom. Fast warmup by the weekend into mid to low 80's. I've been holding my breath with all the record breaking temps everywhere else.
I remember years ago that citrus farmers used to use something called "smudge" pots in their groves when there was a freeze. Are they still used or is there newer/more modern ways to protect the crops from the effects of a freeze.
I wish I had some smudge pots but nada....No they are not used anymore because the cost of fuel is too high to make it economical. We do use micro-sprinklers to raise the heat in the center of the tree and it works to a degree unless the wind blows. And we all know the wind never blows in a cold event.... :shock: Honestly at the end of the day freeze events have to be figured into the investment and it's like playing Russian roulette in the hope it's your neighbor that suffers and not you, sort of like brotherly love Looking for more Ag investors everyday, do you feel lucky....People have to eat....
along the lines of smudge pots... I assume you guys have a natural gas line on the farm, right? I've seen these gas heaters that are literally tapped right into the gas line and run off a long extension used in these plants. As the safety director, I have to make sure it's all above board and when I first saw the plans laid out I was dismissive. I was looking at several hundred yards of these lines laid out and heaters hooked up to them and thought... 'hey, I wonder if these would help Ralph?' It just seems like something that could be used in a pinch in Ag because those things can throw off as much (or little) heat as you need and you'd be surprised at just how much radiant heat is generated by one of them.
Corey I appreciate your thoughts, having gas would be an incredible advantage. When I visited the Fresno growing area a few years back I was amazed at the infrastructure in place to combat cold weather with gas. We don't have gas in our area, matter of fact gas is something of a rare item in Florida. I don't know if it's because we don't have a supply nearby or because we are so tropical it just never caught on down here, it could be the extremely high water table we have. There are a few rural areas that have a tank at their house but for the most part it's all electric.
Ahh okay. Thanks for explaining that. I wasn't sure how it worked for you guys, or really with Ag at all. All I know is that our guys at the plant here can turn that gigantic shop into a Tropical Rain forest in about an hour using no more than 20 of those things. When I saw that, I actually thought of you. That is curious that you don't have a lot of gas lines down there. The one that the guys in the plant tap isn't even used all that often. It's just there.
Hey Ralph... You probably didn't notice this. I'm on vacation in Ft Myers and on the 9th floor and I felt it...not too many folks around here did. <iframe src="http://embed.newsinc.com/Single/iframe.html?WID=1&VID=25509690&freewheel=69016&sitesection=miamiherald_nws_wld_sty_pp&width=861&height=521" height="521" width="861" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0"></iframe>
Oh jeez...now when you embed things they play without clicking on them? Including annoying ads? I'm leaving it up for now but go ahead and delete it, moderators, if too annoying. :x :x
I would have bet a couple paychecks if someone even mentioned an earthquake affecting Florida. This totally blows my mind.....I am in Savannah for a fruit & vegetable conference and missed the whole episode. If you felt this in Ft. Myers Stu then my employees had to feel it at the farm, we are not that far away as the crow flies. I still am wondering if this is some elaborate hoax.....
No I definitely felt it Ralph. Went out and told Susie I thought we had just had a tremor. She had felt nothing. Searched the internet and saw nothing except about 20 min later the rthing in Cuba showes up on the earthaquake monitoring web site. It wasn't until this morning that I saw confirmation that others in the area had noticed. I doibt your employees or anyone on the ground felt it. It lasted about 30 sec.
Terry, I'm the Safety Director of a hollow metal steel company/factory that produces incarceration equipment. If you know someone in jail, they may well be in one of ours. We also build vaults, locks, locking systems etc.