Farmers warn of rising food prices as extreme conditions threaten supply: 'It's been bone dry down here for the past two months'
According to Blue Book, recent weather in Florida has growers in the region concerned about their crops.
Currently, temperatures are moving into the 90s, and there has been little rain in recent months, as well as none forecast in the near future. Growers are preoccupied with the 2025 hurricane season, which early forecasts predict will see above-average activity.
As a result of these conditions and potentially volatile months ahead, crops in the region — including beans, bell peppers, and squash — could feel the squeeze, causing food prices to rise.
Those growing citrus aren't faring much better, either.
Fox Weather reported that last year's hurricane season caused a drop in citrus crops. Meanwhile, 82% of the state is currently in a drought, while 16% is in extreme drought, significantly affecting crops. Citrus growers also have to contend with a disease known as citrus greening, which can kill off citrus trees.
Citrus grower Trevor Murphy told Fox Weather, "It's been bone dry down here for the past two months. We've received one inch of rain, and that was over a month ago."
As global temperatures continue to rise, more extreme weather, such as droughts and hurricanes, will decrease crop yields and affect consumers.
Fewer yields mean fewer food items at the grocery store, which also means that what food is on the shelves will increase in price. Plus, if farmers lose money on crops or have to up their investment to grow the crops needed, prices will increase even more.
Growers in Florida may even begin to cease operations, much like Alico Inc., which decided to shut down citrus growing operations at the beginning of 2025. Fewer growers result in fewer jobs and less produce; less produce affects not only the availability of fruits and vegetables on the shelves but also products made with this produce.
Do you worry about how much food you throw away?
Definitely
Sometimes
Not really
Never
Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.
There's the damage droughts and hurricanes can cause to the environment to consider, too, such as worse soil to grow in, less water for crops, and fields of ruined crops with which to contend.
Citrus growers in the state might see help in the near future, as the state Senate has put forth a proposal that would set aside $200 million for the cost of new citrus trees, testing varieties of disease-resistant citrus, and improving grove management.
As for other crop growers, scientists have been hard at work exploring ways to make crops more climate-resilient, how to grow crops with less water, and more.
Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more and waste less, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Jon Husted sitting on $2.6 million for 2026 U.S. Senate race, as Sherrod Brown mulls run
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — While Democrat Sherrod Brown is mulling a return to the U.S. Senate, Republican Sen. Jon Husted has $2.6 million on hand to retain his seat in 2026. Husted raised more than $3 million from the start of 2025 to the end of June, including $1.7 million from contributions and $1.4 million from affiliated committees, according to the Federal Election Commission. During that period, about $406,000 was spent on operating expenditures, leaving the campaign with $2.6 million. Central Ohio Republican lawmaker vows to push back on DeWine effort to ban prop bets Of that sum, $1.1 million was raised during the first quarter this year, between January and March, and $2 million was raised in the second quarter from April through June, FEC records show. The campaign said in a release that Husted, who was appointed to the U.S. Senate in January, has 'quickly demonstrated that he intends to continue his winning streak that began with his first election in 2000.' 'We continue to see growing momentum in every corner of Ohio for Senator Husted,' said Tyson Shepard, Husted's campaign spokesperson, in a release boasting the quarter two haul. 'This quarter's strong showing demonstrates that Jon is building the operation required to achieve a decisive victory in 2026.' Watch a previous NBC4 report on Husted's appointment in the video player above. Husted has been collecting cash without yet having to face a Republican or Democratic challenger. That may soon change as Brown, who was defeated last November by Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno, is said to be entering the race against Husted, according to multiple media outlets. Brown, who has yet to set up a campaign fund, will be starting fresh. The former senator finished last year's race with $394,000 on hand, which he then funneled into a political action committee called 'Dignity of Work.' The effort coincided with Brown's creation in March of the Dignity of Work Institute, a nonprofit group to address working-class issues like low wages and home ownership. The PAC then raised $112,000 but spent $493,000, most of which was on operating expenditures, according to FEC records. Now, the PAC has about $12,000 on hand. Marijuana generates nearly $1 billion in taxes in Ohio. Now figuring out how to spend it. Brown's race against Moreno was the most expensive in the nation last fall, with a record-breaking $483 million spent, the highest for any nonpresidential election on record, according to AdImpact. Republicans cashed in $251 million for Moreno, while Democrats spent $232 million to boost Brown. The winner of the 2026 race for Ohio's U.S. Senate seat will be completing current Vice President JD Vance's original term, which runs through 2028. If that senator wants to serve a full six-year term, they will need to run again in 2028. Husted's campaign touted his endorsements from the Ohio Republican Party, Ohio Values Voters and 100% of the county Republican parties that have endorsed so far. At the start of quarter two, Husted received the backing of President Donald Trump, who offered his 'complete and total endorsement' of the senator. 'This is a true team effort,' Husted said in a release. 'Ohioans are rallying behind our efforts exceptionally early because of our proven track record of delivering wins for Ohio. I will never take their support or trust for granted.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Politico
3 hours ago
- Politico
Sherrod Brown's never-ending crypto headache
Editor's note: Morning Money is a free version of POLITICO Pro Financial Services morning newsletter, which is delivered to our subscribers each morning at 5:15 a.m. The POLITICO Pro platform combines the news you need with tools you can use to take action on the day's biggest stories. Act on the news with POLITICO Pro. Quick Fix Remember the Senate Banking Committee of 2022? The cryptocurrency industry — then beleaguered by scandals, lawsuits, and unfriendly lawmakers — doesn't want to. And crypto firms may again drop a bomb of super PAC money on Ohio to keep it from coming back. As your host reports in a new story out this morning, crypto campaign cash is looming over former Banking Chair Sherrod Brown's Senate comeback bid in the Buckeye State. A deep-pocketed super PAC funded by crypto companies that spent more than $40 million to help defeat Brown during his failed 2024 re-election campaign could once again pose a major problem for the Ohio Democrat as he seeks to return to the Senate in next year's midterms. Defeating Brown, a longtime thorn in the side for both Wall Street and the crypto sector who was a big roadblock to industry-friendly digital asset legislation as chair of the committee, was the biggest win last year for the crypto PAC network, known as Fairshake. Its 2024 crusade featured more than $130 million in spending across a swath of House and Senate races, which helped turn around the industry's fortunes in Washington. The PAC network has replenished its war chest with more than $140 million ahead of 2026, and it is already signaling that Brown could again be a target. 'Last year, voters sent a clear message that the Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren agenda was deeply out of touch with Ohio values,' Fairshake spokesperson Josh Vlasto said in a statement. 'We will continue to support pro-crypto candidates and oppose anti-crypto candidates, in Ohio and nationwide.' As chair of the banking panel from 2021 to 2025, Brown often warned that digital assets open the door to illicit finance and money laundering, and he stood in the way of GOP-led proposals aimed at boosting the sector. Crypto firms capitalized on his political vulnerability in 2024, when he was one of only two Democratic incumbents running in states won by President Donald Trump. Fairshake — which is funded primarily by the crypto firms Coinbase and Ripple and the venture capital group Andreessen Horowitz — spent more money on his Ohio race than any other contest it meddled in. The PAC plastered ads across the state boosting Republican Bernie Moreno, a crypto enthusiast and car dealer who defeated Brown and now sits on the banking panel himself. It is unclear if Brown would retain his seniority and replace Warren as the committee's Democratic leader. Senate Democrats' current rules stipulate that seniority is defined by a member's most recent entry into the conference, meaning that 'the seniority of a Member with interrupted service or service in another Party does not date from that Member's initial entrance into the Senate.' But Democratic leaders could seek to change those rules or grant an exception to Brown, who was their top recruit for the Ohio race. Regardless, crypto lobbyists worry that Brown could pose problems for them if he returns — especially given the brute-force tactics the industry has used to try to take him out. And his opponent, Republican Jon Husted, has been a reliably industry-friendly vote. Husted campaign spokesperson Tyson Shepard said in a statement that if Brown enters the race, 'he will be starting in the biggest hole of his political career,' dubbing him Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's 'handpicked candidate.' Ohio Democrats hope a more favorable national environment will help propel Brown next year. 'Crypto can come in again and do whatever they're going to do,' said Jerry Austin, a longtime Democratic strategist in the state. 'I think they've shot their wad. And if they want to come back and do it again, I think a lot of things have happened between the last election and now, and that is what Trump's been doing in Ohio and the rest of the country.' It's THURSDAY — Send Capitol Hill tips to jgoodman@ For econ policy thoughts, Wall Street tips, personnel moves or general insights, email Sam at ssutton@ Driving the day Labor will release the Producer Price Index for July at 8:30 a.m. … The Securities and Exchange Commission has a closed meeting at 1 p.m. … Rate cut watch — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested the Federal Reserve should cut interest rates by half a percentage point when it meets next month, Bloomberg reports. 'I think we could go into a series of rate cuts here, starting with a 50 basis-point rate cut in September,' Bessent said on Bloomberg TV. 'Any model,' he said, suggests 'we should probably be 150, 175 basis points lower.' New York v. Zelle — New York Attorney General Letitia James on Wednesday sued the operator of Zelle, accusing the bank-owned payment platform of facilitating widespread fraud and failing to protect consumers, our Michael Stratford writes. The lawsuit against Early Warning Services, which runs the popular peer-to-peer payment network, revives similar allegations that were dropped earlier this year by the Trump administration's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A Zelle spokesperson said New York's lawsuit was a 'political stunt to generate press, not progress.' ICYMI — Why Trump's BLS pick is in for a fight, via Sam Sutton and Nick Niedzwiadek At the regulators Treasury waives sanctions for Trump-Putin summit — The Treasury Department is temporarily easing its sweeping sanctions program targeting Russia to allow activities needed to carry out Trump's historic meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday. The order, signed on Wednesday, underscores the complex logistics involved in hosting Putin and other Russian officials who are cut off from the U.S. financial system. Treasury greenlit transactions that would otherwise be prohibited if they're 'ordinarily incident and necessary to the attendance at or support of meetings' in Alaska between the U.S. and Russian governments. The reprieve lasts through Aug. 20, and it explicitly prohibits the unblocking of any frozen Russian assets or other property. On The Hill Strange bedfellows — A coalition of groups that are normally on opposing sides in financial regulatory policy fights is calling on lawmakers to change a section of the recently enacted stablecoin law that it says allows state-chartered uninsured depository institutions to operate nationwide without proper supervision. A letter sent to lawmakers on the Senate Banking Committee Wednesday led by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors said the GENIUS Act 'allows any state-chartered uninsured depository institution with a stablecoin subsidiary to perform traditional (i.e., not solely related to payment stablecoins) money transmission and custody activities nationwide through that subsidiary, thereby bypassing host state licensing and allowing substantially less state oversight.' The letter was signed by bank trade associations including the American Bankers Association and consumer groups including Americans for Financial Reform. 'This unprecedented overriding of state law and supervision weakens vital consumer protections, creates opportunities for regulatory arbitrage, and undermines state sovereignty,' the letter said. Outbound investment on the big stage –– From our Katherine Hapgood: House Financial Services National Security Subcommittee Chair Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) said Wednesday that as Congress considers their proposal for the Defense Production Act, they will have to wait on a potential outbound investment addition, as it will most likely be a part of Trump's trade negotiations with China. 'We have a strong sense from the administration, they would rather have a threat of very harsh outbound investment criteria than finished outbound investment criteria, because they're also hopeful for a positive outcome in the negotiations,' Davidson told Katherine after the subcommittee's field hearing on the DPA. Davidson said he also wants to decouple the legislation from the annual appropriations deadline for 'more floor time' to modernize the DPA, and let trade negotiations play out. He said he is eyeing June for the revamped DPA reauthorization. Bessent endorses congressional stock trading ban — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is calling for a ban on single-stock trading by members of Congress, our Gregory Svirnovskiy and Meredith Lee Hill write. Trade Bessent dismisses Nvidia deal concerns — Bessent on Wednesday brushed off concerns about Trump's decision to charge Nvidia for a government license to export semiconductor chips to China, our Doug Palmer and Ari Hawkins report. 'There are no national security concerns here' because the H20 chips are not the most advanced chips that Nvidia makes, Bessent said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. His comments come despite criticism from former officials and members of Congress. Jobs report Anastasia Dellaccio is joining the Digital Chamber, a crypto trade group, as executive director of state and regional affairs. She is an alum of the Export-Import Bank.
Axios
4 hours ago
- Axios
DeSantis' lieutenant governor pick raises 2026 questions
Gov. Ron DeSantis' choice of State Sen. Jay Collins (R-Hillsborough) as Florida's next lieutenant governor is sending ripples through the state's political scene and the 2026 race for the governor's mansion. Why it matters: The appointment fuels speculation that Collins may be DeSantis' preferred successor over U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, teeing up another showdown between the governor and President Trump. Catch up quick: Trump derailed any succession maneuvering by DeSantis — once seen as a kingmaker in Florida — by throwing his weight behind Donalds before the congressman had even announced. DeSantis dismissed Donalds, telling him to prioritize the president's agenda in Congress and stressing that the congressman "wasn't part of any of the victories we've had here over these last years." Thanks to the Sunshine State-to-West Wing pipeline and a game of political musical chairs, DeSantis had the rare opportunity to appoint loyalists to almost every elected Florida cabinet post. Enter Collins, a former Green Beret who spent three years in the state Senate representing Tampa — a seat he won with DeSantis' backing — now replacing Jeanette Nuñez as the governor's second-in-command. The post sat vacant for six months after Nuñez became president of Florida International University. Meanwhile, chatter about a Casey DeSantis 2026 campaign cooled after a state House investigation into Hope Florida, the welfare assistance program she spearheaded. Driving the news: Collins hasn't closed the door on a run for governor, and political insiders told Axios he could announce as soon as October. He and DeSantis brushed off questions about it during the announcement. The governor's office didn't respond to Axios' request for comment. But DeSantis has said he wants his other appointees, the attorney general and the chief financial officer, to remain in office. What they're saying: U.S. Rep. Randy Fine (R), who supports Donalds but worked with Collins in the state Senate, told Axios that Collins is now "out of the job in a year and a half... so that's a reason he might run." "He'll have an extremely difficult time, if that's what he decides to do," Fine said. "Jay is a complete unknown. What I can tell you, as a former state senator, no one knows who you are around the state." "This is Trump's Republican Party ... and beyond having his endorsement, Donalds has raised an astonishing amount of money." Donalds, for his part, congratulated Collins on his appointment on X, saying he wishes him "all the best" — to which Collins replied, "Thank you." But when asked about Collins' potential run, Donalds' campaign pointed Axios to Trump's endorsement. David Jolly, who's running for the Democratic nomination for governor, called Collins an "American hero" in comments to Axios, but said "the DeSantis-Trump proxy war is real."
