Just as Georgia vegetable growers had recovered from a
midwinter freeze, Mother Nature
put the chill on again.

"Most farmers who decided to replant after the early-
February freeze were hit
again with almost total losses in greens," said Terry
Kelley, a horticulturist with
the University of Georgia Extension Service.

"Georgia greens producers sustained near 100 percent
losses for the second time in
close to five weeks," Kelley said.

Farmers who had planted greens, onions, cabbage, watermelons,
tomatoes, peppers or
squash face losses and the cost of replanting again.

Vidalia onion growers were hit hard, too. "This latest
freeze almost assures us of
40 percent losses in this year’s onion crop," Kelley
said.

Based on 1995 prices, Kelley expects a monetary loss close to
$31 million in onions
alone.

The March freeze caused less physical damage to the onion
bulbs, Kelley said, but more
hidden damage that may not show up for a month or more.

"The cold makes the onion think it’s completed its life
cycle," he said. The
resulting seed stems make the onion unmarketable.

The freeze has caused a lot of distorted leaves, too, which
enable diseases to invade.
That can further reduce the onion quality. "It’s like
adding insult to injury,"
Kelley said.

But he stresses to farmers the importance of selling only top-
quality onions. "The
losses from the actual freeze would be minor compared to how
inferior onions would affect
prices in future years," he said.

In early February, Kelley figured 90 percent losses in
mustard, turnip, kale and
collard greens. Most growers decided to replant as the weather
warmed back up — just in
time for the next arctic blast.

Kelley said greens and other winter vegetables were also
damaged in the early-March
freeze. Some farmers who planted early and lost crops to the
early February freeze had
either retransplanted or direct-seeded second crops.

The March freeze wiped out virtually all of the direct-seeded
vegetables. And
retransplanted cabbage is suffering critically.

Cabbages were hit hard, but not as hard as leafy greens.
Kelley feels sure that many of
the cabbage plants left are likely to bolt (produce flowers and
seeds), though, instead of
producing heads.

Growers won’t know how much of the crop will bolt until a few
weeks before harvest.

Some farmers in the southernmost Georgia counties had already
planted summer
vegetables, adding to the total damaged acreage.

The freeze killed most of the tomatoes, peppers, squash and
watermelons already in
fields.

"Most of the very small amount that was out already was
planted almost too
early," Kelley said. "Producers were looking to get
their harvest to the markets
first for higher prices."

Many vegetable growers can still replant their crops. But for
some greens farmers, this
will be the third planting in their fields, adding to their
costs. Their later harvest can
mean losses at the market, too.

Vegetables that reach the market first generally sell for
higher prices. When more
produce reaches the market later in the season, prices tend to
drop.

Jack Frost may nip at shoppers’ wallets, too. Prices will
likely rise, since less
produce will be available, Kelley said.

It’s still early in the season, so summer crops weren’t wiped
out, he said. There’s
still a long time between now and harvest to make up for these
very early season losses in
summer crops.

"Farming is always a roll of the dice," Kelley
said. "So far this
winter, Georgia vegetable farmers are coming up with snake
eyes."