Florida’s mild winters allow the state to play a vital role in supplying fresh vegetables for U.S. consumers. Producers also benefit from premium prices when low temperatures prevent production in most of the country. This study characterizes the influence of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on the Florida vegetable industry using statistical analysis of the response of historical crop (yield, prices, production, and value) and weather variables (freeze hazard, temperatures, rainfall, and solar radiation) to ENSO phase and its interaction with location and time of year. Annual mean yields showed little evidence of response to ENSO phase and its interaction with location. ENSO phase and season interacted to influence quarterly yields, prices, production, and value. Yields (tomato, bell pepper, sweet corn, and snap bean) were lower and prices (bell pepper and snap bean) were higher in El Niño than in neutral or La Niña winters. Production and value of tomatoes were higher in La Niña winters. The yield response can be explained by increased rainfall, reduced daily maximum temperatures, and reduced solar radiation in El Niño winters. Yield and production of winter vegetables appeared to be less responsive to ENSO phase after 1980; for tomato and bell pepper, this may be due to improvements in production technology that mitigate problems associated with excess rainfall. Winter yield and price responses to El Niño events have important implications for both producers and consumers of winter vegetables, and suggest opportunities for further research.

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Pricing policy in water allocation has become of more concern as some areas find water is indeed a scarce resource. Demand estimates, where the quantity purchased‐value in use relationships are of concern, have been made in other studies for residential, industrial, and agricultural uses in many areas of the country. The price‐quantity relations for water use in commercial firms are estimated and discussed for several different types of stores in this study. A derived demand model is used to estimate commercial demand in the Miami, Florida, area. The price elasticity was generally low (inelastic) for all groups studied except for department stores. This group was found to have an elastic demand for water at all prices above $0.93 per thousand gallons purchased per month, where the mean price for this part of the sample was $1.24. The major implication of the study is that commercial establishments may be responsive to price changes over the long run, much as has already been shown for other types of user groups in other studies.

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Increased competition and conflict among users of water have caused eastern states to investigate alternatives to their common law doctrines dealing with water use, and the legislative trend is toward greater state administration in water management. As a part of this trend, Florida has enacted an administrative water law (Florida Water Resource Act of 1972) based upon a model water code suggested for eastern states. The economic efficiency implications of the allocation processes allowed by the code and the Florida act are examined herein to indicate how more effective use of basic economic principles could increase efficiency of water allocation under an administrative system. Since the present body-of-water law has evolved over time and any modifications must be consistent with this body of law, eastern surface and groundwater law is reviewed first. Then, water allocation under administrative water law, with a focus on the code and the Florida water act, is discussed. Alternative approaches to water allocation which have potential for improving economic efficiency are discussed last.

Final Report to the Florida Forestry Association. Revised January 7, 2005. Press release 4/14/2005.