U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida on Aug. 4 said Senate Democrats blocked a bill Rubio introduced that would have resulted in lowering the Brix level of not-from-concentrate orange juice (NFC OJ). That bill would have directed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take the Brix-lowering action. Rubio had introduced the Defending Domestic Orange Juice Production Act (S. 4394), …
The Status of Satsuma Mandarins in Georgia
Satsuma mandarins remain the predominant citrus variety produced in Georgia, but growers diversified more with their plantings this year. Jake Price, University of Georgia Extension coordinator, described the impact that growers could see with various citrus varieties now in place. He presented this information during the recent Citrus Growers’ Summer Update in Valdosta, Georgia. Price says the citrus industry in …
House Agriculture Committee Members Seek Hearing with EPA Administrator
By Frank Giles U.S. House of Representatives Agriculture Committee members are requesting a hearing with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Michael Regan to discuss the agency’s oversight of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The law regulates the usage of farm pesticides. Republican members on the committee sent a letter to its Chairman David Scott (D-GA) to request …
Recognizing Leadership in a Critical Time
By Peter Chaires It is hard to believe that it has been eight years since Brian Scully returned to Florida as lab director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Horticultural Research Laboratory in Fort Pierce, Florida. Scully was certainly no stranger to Florida or its citrus industry at the time of his return. However, he accepted the USDA position at …
CRDF Board Acts on Research Recommendations
The Citrus Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) board of directors spent much of its monthly meeting in July considering recommendations from the foundation’s research management committee (RMC). TRACKING TREESThe RMC recommended that a request for proposals be put forth to create an inventory of all germplasm existing in field trials from the plant breeding programs CRDF has helped to fund. Having a …
International Trade Commission Clears Way for Fertilizers
By Frank Giles The International Trade Commission (ITC) recently ruled against imposing tariffs on nitrogen fertilizers imported from Russia and Trinidad and Tobago. The panel’s ruling found that imports from those countries did not hurt American producers of fertilizer. The ITC ruling removed anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties of up to 132% on urea nitrate fertilizers from Russia. Duties of 113% …
UF/IFAS Breaks Record on Research Expenditures
Research conducted at the University of Florida in agricultural sciences and natural resources conservation topped previous years’ spending totals in the latest figures reported to the National Science Foundation. University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Science (UF/IFAS) researchers reported a total of $277.9 million spent during their projects in the fiscal year that ended June 30, the highest …
Webinar Focuses on Citrus Trunk Injection to Treat HLB
The pros of injecting the antibiotic oxytetracycline (OTC) into citrus tree trunks to combat HLB appear to be numerous, including increased fruit yield, according to scientist Ute Albrecht. On the other hand, the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) researcher only discussed one con, but it was a big one. “Trunk injections cause injury, and long-term effects need to …
Florida Citrus Crop Decline Continues
By Frank Giles The final U.S. citrus forecast of the 2021–22 season, released July 12, bumped up the estimate a bit from June forecast. Florida’s all-orange forecast rose 1%, to 40.95 million boxes, due to a slight increase in non-Valencia orange production and a 1% increase in expected Valencia orange production. However, the crop was the smallest since the 1942-43 …
Water and Soil pH Critical to Citrus Nutrition
There 17 essential elements that plants need to grow. Three of those elements come to plants via water and the atmosphere. The 14 other elements come from fertilizer applications. Almost all of those are dependent on soil pH to determine how well they are picked up by plants’ root systems. Getting the soil pH just right was discussed in the …