Amid rising food prices, and growing shortages of world food stocks, Florida's productive farmland is increasingly valuable to the country.
"Florida remains a consistent safe bet as a primary supplier of a variety of agricultural products," said Sterling Ivey, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
"Though the predominance of production occurs between October and May, there is rarely a time when some commodity isn't being produced.In 2010, our vegetable production alone was valued at $2.1 billion, up from $1.9 billion from the previous year."
According to the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates, America's reserves of corn and soybeans are at historic lows, less than 5 percent of projected demand for the coming year. The Washington Post reports that typical reserves have been three or more times that amount.
As a result, the market price for corn to be delivered in May nearly doubled from $3.67 to $7.23 as of late last month, the Post reported.
Contributing to the rise is an increase in the world's demand as well as the ethanol industry converting food stocks to fuel. A more subtle, but long-term, factor is America's diminishing farm acreage.
For decades, U.S. cropland has steadily eroded in an onslaught of exurban and suburban development. The continued loss of family farms has accelerated that decline.
Meantime, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization projects that global food production will have to increase by 70 percent over the next four decades to meet ever-rising demand.
It is an untenable situation that we dont have an answer for, Scott Shellady, a trader with XFA Futures in Chicago, told the Post. The long term is shaping up to be demand we have a hard time filling.
While U.S. cropland decreased 5 percent from 2007 to 2009, Florida's decline in that period wasn't quite so marked.
"Florida fared a bit better, with 1,053,000 acres in 2007 and 1,017,000 acres in 2009, a 3.4 percent decline," Ivey said.
Part of that drop can be attributed to the blight-battered citrus industry.
The state typically plants 230,000 to 240,000 acres of non-citrus fresh fruits and vegetables annually. A rich assortment of field crops, including sugar cane, rounds out the total.
As food prices continue to soar, the question remains if Florida's cropland will stay on the decline. Industry trade groups in DC have argued that keeping America's land, and the food it provides, in production during a time of historic lows could become a matter of national security.
Indeed, Florida is sharply expanding its berry production and yielding bigger cash returns.
Harvested acres for strawberries increased during the last 10 years from 6,300 acres to 8,800, with a corresponding expansion in value from $167 million in 2000 to $367 million in 2010.
Blueberries are up even more. Acreage more than doubled from 1,500 acres to 3,500 acres in the past decade, with cash receipt soaring from $11.9 million to $48 million.
But there have been declines, too.
Notably, harvested acreage for tomatoes has fallen from 38,000 to 29,000 in the past five years. But Ivey said crop revenues have remained strong -- between $600 million and $800 million -- because of shortages and higher prices.
While still leading the nation, Florida's sugar cane cropland, too, has seen declines. According to the USDA, from 2002 to 2010, sugar cane land dropped from 470,000 acres to 390,000 acres, resulting in a loss of roughly 2.3 million tons of sugar cane per year. In 2008, then-Gov. Charlie Crist announced a deal between the state and United State Sugar Corporation for the purchase of another 187,000 acres of sugar cane and citrus. The deal was later downsized with options remaining on the total.
Home to the most productive farms in the world, America is the globe's leading food exporter, and Florida pitches into that salad bowl, especially during the winter months.
"With 9.2 million acres deemed agricultural lands, Florida's 47,500 farms are poised to supply a vast array of products far into the future," Ivey said.
"With improvements in water management, protecting and shielding crops from weather anomalies and pests and strengthened by the introduction of new varieties, market challenges will be met and overcome by a determined group of professionals working together," he concluded.
Florida's farmers may be in their best shape in years while much of the non-agricultural sector tanks.
Since real-estate development has slowed dramatically in Florida, the state's farm acreage has stabilized during the hard times. And, farmers aren't so inclined to sell out when food prices are on the rise.
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Nancy Smith contributed to the story.
Reach Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.
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