U.S. crops are escaping record-setting cold weather with little damage, while the arctic blast drove cattle prices to a record as animals struggle to gain weight, reports Bloomberg.

The coldest spots in Florida citrus groves were near freezing, but apparently not cold enough to damage them according  to a senior meteorologist at AccuWeather Inc. In State College, Pa. Snow cover helped insulate wheat plants, according to DTN/Progressive Farmer.

"The worst of it has gone by, especially in the Midwest," Claudio Oliveira, the head of trading at Castlestone Management LLC in New York, told Bloomberg News.

The Standard & Poor's GSCI Agriculture Index of eight crops slid 0.3 percent to 351.03 at 3:17 p.m. in New York, after rising 0.6 percent Monday.


"The bullet missed them," Mohler of AccuWeather said. "I don't think this even damaged the vegetable crops, tomatoes and strawberries, which are more susceptible."
 

Full report can be seen here