By Clint Thompson
This year’s citrus crop in Southwest Alabama is nearing ready to be harvested. According to Jacob Kelley, regional Extension agent in Southwest Alabama, the production was impacted from the prolonged dry period in the area this summer.
“Citrus is looking pretty good. Disease pressure has been low. We’ll see what that looks like here in a couple of weeks to a month. Disease pressure has been low,” Kelley said. “Insect pressure has been a little higher this year, and it’s because of those flash droughts we were having. We have seen a buildup of whiteflies and aphids and smaller insects like that. If guys haven’t been out there spraying for those, they’re probably covered up in those insects. Hopefully, they’ve helped mitigate that situation.”
The region’s citrus production mostly consists of satsuma mandarins. Kelley said growers are optimistic about this year’s crop.
“I think we’re going to have a pretty good crop this year. Everybody’s kind of holding on to what they’ve got until we get later in the year when we get some cool temperatures and things start coloring up. We’ll really be able to see what we actually have out there,” Kelley said.
“For the most part, I think we’re going to have a standard year for us.”