ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – Hurricane Frances may have damaged or destroyed up to two-thirds of Florida’s grapefruit crop as it roared through the heart of one of the state’s richest citrus-growing regions, agriculture officials said Tuesday.

Some farmers reported losing their entire grapefruit crop to the storm. Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson said officials were still assessing damage, but losses will likely exceed the $150 million citrus loss inflicted by Hurricane Charley.

“We know that on the citrus side, that the fresh fruit industry is probably looking at some severe losses,” said Bronson, who planned to tour ravaged farming areas Wednesday. “On the grapefruit side, a lot of people think that they may lose their whole grapefruit crop.”

Because it is larger than oranges, grapefruit is more vulnerable to high winds.

With a $205 million crop, Florida produces three-quarters of the grapefruit in the United States, which is the world’s largest producer of the fruit. Half of Florida’s grapefruit is turned into juice, while the other half is sold as fresh fruit, with most of it shipped to overseas markets.

“Some growers are reporting to us that they lost 50 percent to 100 percent of their fruit,” said Casey Pace, a spokeswoman for Florida Citrus Mutual, the state’s largest growers’ group.

Frances made landfall in the heart of the Indian River Citrus District on the Atlantic coast, where most of Florida’s grapefruit is grown.

Doug Bournique, executive vice president of the Indian River Citrus League, said the crop was not a total loss. Harvesting begins next month.

“There is still plenty of crop on the trees,” said Bournique, who drove through grapefruit groves on Tuesday.

Bournique said he had seen little damage to trees, which was a problem in southwest Florida after stronger Hurricane Charley tore through orange groves there three weeks ago. Tree damage could hurt growers in future seasons since it takes five to seven years for new trees to bear fruit.

But state officials cautioned that damage inflicted by Frances may not be over because standing water has flooded many groves.

Nearly half the farms in Florida, or about 20,000, were in the path of Frances, said Liz Compton, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Agriculture. “Some weren’t impacted greatly. For others, it was Oh my God,”‘ she said.

The flooding also affected Florida’s cattle industry. Cows died, and tens of thousands of gallons of milk had to be dumped from processing plants because of power outages. The storm also damaged timber and nursery businesses.

In Georgia, Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin said the state’s $69 million pecan crop was hardest hit. Frances dropped 10 to 12 inches of rain in some areas, knocking about a third of pecans to the ground.

“Not only did the storm throw nuts on the ground, trees have been uprooted, split and broken,” Irvin said. “It’s a colossal mess.”