" It's about this time that you have the most trouble sleeping. It's just a tough business."

A white-winged pest less than a millimeter long threatens to devastate Florida's $500 million tomato crop — more than half of which comes from Hillsborough and Manatee counties.

Concern is so high for the already struggling industry, said Reggie Brown, manager of the Florida Tomato Committee that it "could be a tipping point for the Florida tomato business. It's like having a hurricane forecast and you don't know if it's going to hit you or it's going to turn. It's not something you can simply move and dodge the bullet."

Tomatoes are Florida's biggest vegetable crop, and the state leads the rest of the country in production of fresh tomatoes.

Read more at the Tampa Bay Times.