Florida Freeze Not Threatning Orange Juice Production Yet

Wall Streeters are just evil. So much so that they apparently hope we continue to "freeze" to "death" here in Florida, and they're betting on orange juice futures, pushing prices to a two-year high. Florida produces more oranges than anywhere else in the world except for Brazil, and if the...

By Kyle Munzenrieder

January 6, 2010

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Wall Streeters are just evil. So much so that they apparently hope we continue to "freeze" to "death" here in Florida, and they're betting on orange juice futures, pushing prices to a two-year high.

Florida produces more oranges than anywhere else in the world except for Brazil, and if the cold damages enough plants it could push the price of orange juice up, and they'd make money.

Luckily for us and our beloved oranges, that may not happen. About 20 percent of the state's crop would have to be ruined for prices to rise, and plants are only threatened when temperatures drop below 28 degrees for four hours or more. Last night, only about 1 percent of the state's crops were affected, and even in the worst case scenario brought on by weather forecasters, only about 5 to 10 percent of the crop could be affected.

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