Farmers face many risks. This is something we all have in common.

A couple of weeks ago, Florida farmers experienced temperatures that were 30 degrees below normal.

Here is a slide show of the freeze, from The Packer

 In Belle Glade, Fla., temperatures dropped during the early morning hours Jan. 10 and into Jan. 11, falling to the upper 20s at a time when normal lows are typically 51 to 52 degrees. The result was a freeze that destroyed most of the area’s sweet corn and green bean crops. On Jan. 12, Bryan Biederman, assistant sales manager for Pioneer Growers Co-op, Belle Glade, said losses to crops grown in Palm Beach County will be high. “It appears that we have lost all of our winter corn and winter beans in Belle Glade,” he said. “There may be a planting or two on warmer land that we may be able to save, but for the most part we were completely wiped out in Belle Glade.” Biederman said the corn market shot up to $18 from $12 the week before for wirebound crates of 4-4 1/2 dozen… Read more

Though of course we have other risks here, we are lucky that we don’t have freezes like that. I stood on the farm today, wearing shorts like I do all year long, and in one direction I looked up at Mauna Kea, and in the other direction I could see the ocean.

I thought about how lucky we are to live here in this climate on the Big Island.