Truck weights eased for Florida potato crop

Truck weights eased for Florida potato crop    Florida has eased weight restrictions on trucks Friday to transport potato crops out of the Northeast part of the state as a result of flooding rains.
   Gov. Charlie Crist signed Executive Order 09-126, declaring a state of emergency in 11 counties and enabling farmers, who are growing potatoes, to quickly harvest their crops and transport them to processing and marketing facilities to help mitigate further losses.
   The counties covered by the order are Brevard, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Lake, Nassau, Orange, Putnam, Seminole, St. Johns and Volusia.
   “Potatoes, the primary crop in the area, are in peak harvest season,” said Charles H. Bronson, Florida agriculture and consumer services commissioner, in a statement. “More than two-thirds of the 18,000-acre crop is still in flooded fields and must be harvested quickly before further damage occurs.”
   Bronson said potato farmers could suffer losses of more than $50 million if the remaining portion of the crop is not quickly harvested and transported.