Thousands of seasonal workers could see their hours slashed or their jobs cut completely as the full effects of the weekend’s freeze on Central Florida’s berry crops begin to be understood.Lake County farmer Michael Hill owns Amber Brooke Farms in Eustis and H&A Farms and Packing House in Mount Dora.A fourth-generation farmer, Hill’s packing house distributes blueberries for farms across the southeast and Florida.He said he estimates blueberry crop losses to be around 70 to 80 percent in Florida.“I’ve watched five grown men cry this week from this,” he told WESH 2. “It’s not just impacting the farms; the trickle-down effect is real.” Hill said he estimates around 2,000 field workers and around 400 packing house employees, who he said all work on a seasonal basis, will have reduced hours or see their jobs eliminated completely this season.”These people are hard working people that we’re just not going to be able to provide them with that like we have before because the crop’s not there,” he said, noting that his packing house supplies popular grocery stores across Florida.“Everyone talks about they don’t want to see the farms go away in Florida. They don’t want to see it turn into houses. Things like this are what make that happen.”He said he estimates around half of the state’s strawberry crop has been destroyed for the next 30 days, but he said strawberries will bounce back more quickly than blueberries.“We’ve got to treat the roots, we’ve got to make sure that they’re not damaged because all this wind and ice can put fungus pressure on the plants, it can put stress on the plants, it’s going to be an effect that we see for years,” Hill said.“We still have fruit to pack; we are going to salvage every berry we can. But you can’t hide from those kind of losses.” Matt Smith, a commercial crop agent for the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Lake County extension office, said the full financial impact of the weekend’s freeze likely won’t be known for about a month, and even then the results will be preliminary.”Citrus got hit pretty hard, blueberries got hit very hard, and even our vegetable producers have seen damage,” Smith told WESH 2. “With blueberries, we’ve seen a lot of infrastructure damage outside of just the fruit damage.”He said UF is reaching out to Florida farmers to survey damage and gather data.Meanwhile, Hill said Amber Brooke is still planning to host its annual strawberry festival come March.

LAKE COUNTY, Fla. —

Thousands of seasonal workers could see their hours slashed or their jobs cut completely as the full effects of the weekend’s freeze on Central Florida’s berry crops begin to be understood.

Lake County farmer Michael Hill owns Amber Brooke Farms in Eustis and H&A Farms and Packing House in Mount Dora.

A fourth-generation farmer, Hill’s packing house distributes blueberries for farms across the southeast and Florida.

He said he estimates blueberry crop losses to be around 70 to 80 percent in Florida.

“I’ve watched five grown men cry this week from this,” he told WESH 2. “It’s not just impacting the farms; the trickle-down effect is real.”

Hill said he estimates around 2,000 field workers and around 400 packing house employees, who he said all work on a seasonal basis, will have reduced hours or see their jobs eliminated completely this season.

“These people are hard working people that we’re just not going to be able to provide them with that like we have before because the crop’s not there,” he said, noting that his packing house supplies popular grocery stores across Florida.

“Everyone talks about they don’t want to see the farms go away in Florida. They don’t want to see it turn into houses. Things like this are what make that happen.”

He said he estimates around half of the state’s strawberry crop has been destroyed for the next 30 days, but he said strawberries will bounce back more quickly than blueberries.

“We’ve got to treat the roots, we’ve got to make sure that they’re not damaged because all this wind and ice can put fungus pressure on the plants, it can put stress on the plants, it’s going to be an effect that we see for years,” Hill said.

“We still have fruit to pack; we are going to salvage every berry we can. But you can’t hide from those kind of losses.”

Matt Smith, a commercial crop agent for the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Lake County extension office, said the full financial impact of the weekend’s freeze likely won’t be known for about a month, and even then the results will be preliminary.

“Citrus got hit pretty hard, blueberries got hit very hard, and even our vegetable producers have seen damage,” Smith told WESH 2. “With blueberries, we’ve seen a lot of infrastructure damage outside of just the fruit damage.”

He said UF is reaching out to Florida farmers to survey damage and gather data.

Meanwhile, Hill said Amber Brooke is still planning to host its annual strawberry festival come March.