Florida eases truck weights for harvest scramble

Florida eases truck weights for harvest scramble    Florida alerted its agricultural producers on Friday that highway restrictions have been eased so they can quickly harvest and transport crops vulnerable to the freezing weather that's expected to hit the state on Monday and Tuesday.
   In specific, the Florida Department of Transportation will relax the weight, height, length and width restrictions for commercial vehicles transporting crops to processing sites. The order, which took effect Dec. 10, will remain in effect for seven days.
   “Hopefully, this will help our agriculture community lessen their losses,” said Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles H. Bronson, in a statement.
   Florida’s growers produce nearly all U.S. domestically produced fresh fruits and vegetables during the winter. The severe cold weather threatens many of Florida’s crops including bell peppers, snap beans, cabbage, celery, sweet corn, cucumbers, eggplant, endive, escarole, grapefruit, lettuce, oranges, variety peppers, radishes, squash, strawberries, tangerines, tomatoes, sugarcane, a wide variety of horticulture, and aquaculture crops such as tropical fish.
   'In many cases, producers won’t know the full extent of damage for several weeks,' the state government said.