2020 Citrus Achievement Award winner Steven Callaham says trees under screen are growing fast and look very healthy in the absence of HLB.
Photo by Frank Giles
This the first installment of four special features honoring the 2020 Florida Grower Citrus Achievement Award winner, Steven Callaham, CEO of the Dundee Citrus Growers Association.
How have grower members of Dundee Citrus Growers Association learned to live with citrus greening?
Callaham: The biggest things have been trying to grow a variety that has some level of tolerance to greening and then intensely managing the nutrition program. In addition, our association is growing citrus under protective screen, which takes greening out of the mix by excluding the psyllid.
We have seen our volumes stabilize as those adjustments have been made. It is very important to be able to structure your operations to provide stability in volume. That stability is necessary for our customers to properly plan and arrange logistics throughout the season.
With the association adding peaches and blueberries to its harvesting, packing, and marketing mix, how was the 2020 season?
Callaham: Our peach crop was lighter this season. We did not have the chilling hours during the winter to set as big a crop as last year. Having said that, we had good demand and a strong market throughout the season, even in the middle of the coronavirus outbreak.
Our blueberry growers had a tough season because of a couple of factors. When COVID-19 hit, there was somewhat of a log jam at distribution centers as consumers shifted to buying shelf-stable items, toiletries and cleaning supplies. The peak blueberry volume hit right as all of this occurred. The other bigger issue was the amount of Mexican blueberries coming across the border into the U.S. The volume of imports during Florida’s market window was up by more than 50% over last season.
Special thanks to UPL for the sponsoring the Citrus Achievement Award program.