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S. Fla. Farmers Prepare Crops For Cold Snap

MIAMI (CBS4)- Farmers across South Miami-Dade will not sleep well Tuesday night. That's because they are bracing for weather that could hover near or at the freezing point.

The cold temperature is a potentially huge trouble for crops in the place that serves as the nation's winter vegetable garden and comes on the heels of last winter's crop scorching cold.

South Floridans may see a hike in their grocery bill if local farmers do not get a break this time around, CBS4's Michael Williams reported.

John Alger's family grows 1250 acres of sweet corn and most of it is newly planted. Alger said he has giant water pumps working overtime in the fields, trying to create a water blanket that will trap the ground heat overnight.

He said he also hopes the wind will blow so that frost—if it comes—cannot so easily settle on fragile plantings.

Alger said there isn't much he can do.

"Freezing weather would be pretty bad," he said. "We lost about 70 percent of our crop last year. Middle of the night we will be praying. Once we put the water on there is not much else we can do."

Michael Borek knows how he feels. The farmer is invested in tomatoes, a family business he's known all his life, and Borek walked a field Tuesday that is ready for harvesting in three short weeks.

Tens of thousands of dollars in produce revenue are hanging on the vines and are now subject to nature's turn. Borek also has pumps ready to spray water across his acreage if the temperature looks like it's headed to the freezing point. The goal in his case would be to create an insulating ice shield around his tomato crop.

Borek said he's preparing for the worst.

"I'm happy with the way the crop came out so tonight could be a major downfall for it," he said. "The plan is hope for the best, prepare for the worst."

Another longtime South Miami-Dade farmhand took a break between monitoring water pumps and said, "It is hard to beat Mother Nature. Sometimes you might win if you are lucky."

Many anxious farmers will be hoping preparation and good fortune smile on them over the long night ahead.

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