Jul 08, 2021
CROWLEY, LA -- Most of us are aware of the many weather-related issues facing the rice industry, from lack of sufficient water in California to the over-abundance of water in the mid-south. We’ve all faced our share of issues during the 2021 season and rice growers in Florida are not immune to weather impacts either.
This week, Hurricane Elsa made her way across the Florida peninsula, bringing winds and heavy rain to parts of the rice growing region in Belle Glades, where Florida Crystals and neighboring growers have 25,000 acres of rice planted amid the towering sugarcane crop located south of Lake Okeechobee.
While those of us in southwest Louisiana and Texas are preparing for our harvest to begin soon, Danial Cavazos, director of rice farming for Florida Crystal, notes that their harvest is well under way. “We started harvest two weeks ago in our organic rice fields. It’s been slow going as the rain has been persistent, but the quality and yields are good.”
Fortunately, Hurricane Elsa didn’t really disrupt the region’s early season harvesting. “We dodged a bullet with this storm,” Cavazos said. “Aside from some rain and wind over the weekend, there was virtually no damage to the crop.” Regardless of your location, this is always good news when a named storm passes through your area.
Operations at Florida Crystals Sem Chi Mill were halted over the weekend, mainly due to the 4th of July holiday, although precautionary measures were instituted in case the storm decided to turn for a direct hit on the area. Finding a silver lining from recent weather events, Cavazos said, “The shutdown at the mill did not hurt us as the rice is behind schedule and needs the extra time to fully mature as we’ve experienced very cloudy and overly moist conditions the last few weeks.”
Dr. Matthew VanWeelden, with the University of Florida/IFAS Extension in Palm Beach County, had a similar report of good news. “We were spared major destruction from Hurricane/Tropical Storm Elsa, other than the heavy wind and rainfall.” VanWeelden, who received his PhD from Louisiana State University, is familiar with storms of this nature and their potential for devastating crops, particularly rice, at this time of the production season.
With Elsa moving away from south Florida, growers there are planning to get back in the field and resume their 2021 rice harvest, hopefully with no further interruptions.