Total Florida citrus acreage dropped 8% in the past year, to 375,302 acres, according to the Commercial Citrus Inventory Preliminary Report. The report was released Sept. 7 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. The net loss of 32,046 acres is 19,942 acres more than was lost the previous season. New plantings, at 7,980 acres, are down from …
Florida Black Spot Quarantine Expanded
Federal and state agriculture officials have expanded the citrus black spot (CBS) quarantine area in Florida. They have added four sections in Collier County and five sections in Glades County. The action was taken by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) in cooperation with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Division of …
2022 Hurricane Season off to Slow Start, but Keep Your Guard Up
By Frank Giles The main hurricane prognosticators both predicted the 2022 season would be above normal. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted 20 named storms. Colorado State University also predicted an above normal season with 19 named storms. But, so far, this hurricane season has been slow. In fact, for the first time since 1997, the month of August …
Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance Lays Out Priorities
The Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance (SCFBA), a national coalition of more than 200 specialty crop organizations representing growers of fruits, vegetables, dried fruit, tree nuts, nursery plants and other products, has released its statement of principles for consideration of the 2023 farm bill. The SCFBA was established to advocate for broad-based farm bill policy initiatives to address the unique …
Roe Honored during Citrus Packinghouse Day
Over 60 citrus industry representatives gathered Aug. 25 for the 61st annual Packinghouse Day at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred. They heard updates on H-2A visa options for packinghouse workforce needs, an overview of citrus fruit export requirements and an update on food safety auditing. Faculty from UF/IFAS presented …
The Road to Ramping Up More Truck Drivers
By Frank Giles Alix Miller, president and CEO of the Florida Trucking Association, told attendees of the Citrus & Specialty Crop Expo held in August in North Fort Myers, Florida, that the trucking industry in Florida and nationally has a problem. Supply chain disruptions and clogged ports spurred by COVID-19 made logistical challenges more apparent to the public, but Miller …
All In For Citrus Podcast, August 2022
The August episode of the All In For Citrus podcast takes listeners on a deep dive into the use of plant growth regulators like gibberellic acid (GA) to help fight fruit drop. The episode features an in-depth conversation between Michael Rogers, director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center, and Tripti …
OPINION: Florida Citrus is Disappearing; Why It Matters and How We’re Fighting Back
By Nicole “Nikki” Fried Florida is facing an ongoing crisis that threatens jobs, our economy, and possibly our state’s identity. Depending on your political affiliation, a whole range of threats may come to mind, however, this problem is not concerned with political parties and its consequences will reverberate across partisan lines. I am speaking of the decades long battle to …
Update on New HLB Treatments
By Frank Giles The Citrus & Specialty Crop Expo, held Aug. 17-18, in North Fort Myers drew growers from across Florida and beyond. Citrus growers in attendance were eager for information on HLB treatments. Rick Dantzler, chief operating officer of the Citrus Research and Development Foundation (CRDF), spoke during the general session educational seminars and provided an update on products …
Scouting Below the Ground Critical in Florida Citrus
By Frank Giles Florida citrus growers faced another challenging season in 2022. Continuing impacts from HLB and inflated input prices forced some growers to scale back their production programs. According to Kendra McCorkle, an agronomic service representative for Syngenta, some growers had to make hard economic decisions. “This past season with spikes (in expenses) across everything, especially fertilizer and fuel, …