Researchers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory blame rising levels of carbon dioxide for the severity of a freeze that occurred over much of the eastern United States from April 5 to April 9, 2007.
The damage was made worse because it was preceded by two weeks of unusual warmth, says Lianhong Gu, a research staff scientist at the Oak Ridge, Tenn., laboratory.
In addition to Gu, researchers from NASA, the University of Missouri and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration collaborated on the study. They found that the freeze killed new leaves, shoots, flowers and fruit of natural vegetation; caused crown dieback of trees; and led to severe damage to crops in an area encompassing Nebraska, Maryland, South Carolina and Texas. Subsequent drought limited regrowth.
They say they believe that rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide reduce the ability of some plants to withstand freezing. They also suggest that global warming could lead to more freeze and thaw fluctuations in future winters. This pattern is potentially dangerous for plants because many species must acclimate to cold over a sustained period. Acclimation enables them to better withstand freezes, but unusual warmth early in the year prevents the process.
A cold spring in 1996, compared with the 2007 event, caused little damage because it was not preceded by unusual warmth.
Gu and his colleagues say that the 2007 spring freeze should not be viewed as an isolated event, but as a realistic climate-change scenario.
If potato growers are to become better marketers, they say they need better data on which to base their decisions. The Washington, D.C.-based National Potato Council and the Salt Lake City-based United Potato Growers of America conveyed that message to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in late February. Among the improvements they seek are separate reporting categories for red, russet, yellow and white potatoes.
Lee Frankel, United Potato Growers of America president and chief executive officer, says the data the USDA currently reports does not include the important foodservice market, leaving growers with only a partial picture.
"By reporting data specific to the four basic varieties of potatoes (red, russet, yellow and white) the USDA is providing data that is critical for grower planting decisions," Frankel says. "By knowing the volumes of varieties shipped, potato growers will better be able to market their crop in a profitable manner."
USDA officials say they would coordinate the activities of the Marketing Order Administration Branch with the Market News Service to improve the accuracy of fresh-market potato shipment data from Canada.
In addition, government and industry representatives say they'll work together to ensure that information gathering can be streamlined with the new importer reporting systems coordinated by the Department of Homeland Security.
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Edible squash flower business blooms for Florida growers
Researchers at the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences want to help squash growers maximize production of both fruit and flowers, and not for the conventional reasons, either.
The large, edible flowers that grow on some squash varieties have experienced a surge in popularity in the last few years, especially among high-end restaurants and their chefs.
"I think a few years ago, a lot of the public wouldn't have been comfortable eating flowers, but squash blossoms have been a real delicacy in Italian cooking for centuries," says Anthony Sicignano, executive chef of The Breakers Palm Beach. "Now, at certain times, people just can't get enough of them."
And flower production could offer squash growers another revenue opportunity. "We get a couple of cents for each squash," says Nancy Roe, who operates a 1,000-acre farm near Boca Raton, Fla. "But for each blossom, we can get 50 cents."
The flowers have yet to become a substantial source of income for farmers like Roe, simply because they can't grow enough.
In the past, squash farmers have focused on plants that produce female flowers—the ones that would someday produce squash. As a result, these plants often would only bear one or two male flowers—the kind harvested as a food item.
Russell Nagata, an associate professor at the university's Everglades Research and Education Center in Belle Glade, wants to change that. In 2005, Nagata and his colleagues began evaluating what types of squash can deliver both vegetables and flowers for maximum profit.
Overall, zucchinis seem to provide the most bang for the buck. But the flower business isn't just about volume--it's also about timing.
Demand for the blossoms only comes at certain times, and anticipating those times and having flowers available can be tricky.
"Sometimes the plants are ready to do [it] in the winter months," Nagata says. "And you can imagine that that's not always the time when people see flowers on their plate."
To complicate matters, the blossoms only have a shelf life of one to two days.
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