TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Gov. Charlie Crist has asked that the federal government to declare all of Florida an agriculture disaster area due to 13 straight days of freezing weather.
Crist made the request Friday in a letter to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
Such a declaration would make growers eligible for low-interest loans. It's also a first step toward possible financial aid from Congress.
Crist wrote "No sector of agriculture appears to have been spared."
That includes citrus and other fruit such as strawberries, mangos and blueberries; corn, tomatoes and other vegetables; sugarcane, oats, nursery crops and tropical fish.
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