El Nino-Southern Oscillation influences on Florida crop yields

The El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) can influence crop production through its interactions dth weather. To identify cropping enterprises in Florida that are vulnerable to ENSO-related weather variability, we analyzed the influence of ENSO phases on historical yields of sugarcane, annual held crops (maize, soybean, peanut), vegetables (potato, eggplant, strawberry, celery, pepper, tomato, snap bean and sweet corn), and citrus (orange, lime, grapefruit, temple, tangelo and tangerine). Annual mean yield anomalies of bell pepper, and winter yield anomalies of tomato, bell pepper, snap bean and sweet corn, were significantly lower in El Nino than in neutral or La Nina years. Maize yields were also significantly reduced in El Nino years. Due to their longer development period, sugarcane and citrus responded to the precious rather than the current ENSO phase. Sugarcane yield anomalies about a smoothed trend were significantly higher following La Nina than following neutral or El Nino years. Yield anomalies were significantly higher for grapefruit and tangerine, and lower for lime, in years following El Nino than in years following neutral or La Nina events. Thus, although ENSO-related weather variability explained a significant portion of yield variability for a broad range of Florida crops, the direction, magnitude and timing of the effect depended on the particular crop. These remits suggest a potential for farmers to modify practices for expected weather conditions based on knowledge of the ENSO phase.