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Farmers Scramble To Protect Crops As Temperatures Drop

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - As South Florida bundled in layers and cranked up the heat to deal with the cold snap this week, it was a different story for farmers protecting their crops.

In Homestead, it was another busy night as they kept an eye on the temperatures and worried about possible frost. Many misted their crops and the ground with water to provide a layer of insulation against the chill.

"You start getting damage when the temperature hits 33, 34 degrees with a little bit of frost. And then when the freeze kicks in, you know if it stays around for about an hour, you're going to lose your crop," said Wesley Money with Alger Farms.

Money said they did what they could to protect their crops from the cold.

"We watered with all the overhead trucks and we pretty much got everything covered which we could cover. We got everything done that we could get done," said Money.

At New River Groves in Davie, which is still recovering from Hurricane Irma, they were hoping it didn't get too cold or else it would kill the new growth on their mango trees.

"It can take all the new growth, tender growth and wipe it out," said Bob Roth with New River Groves. "It would have to start all over again. Which we don't know if the tree can handle two shocks in a row."

Thankfully, the temperature was not expected to dip below 32 degrees, or freezing, and a warm-up is coming this weekend.

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