According to the South Florida Pest and Disease Hotline, worm pressure has been high in some parts of the EAA (Everglades Agricultural Area). Producers and scouts report finding loopers, bean leaf rollers and armyworms in beans. Loopers and armyworms are very common in lettuce plantings. Across Southwest Florida, worm pressure has been low to moderate. Scouts are finding mostly southern …
Facts of the Flow: Lake Okeechobee, 2020 Year-to-Date
(SFWMD) — Here is the latest update on inflows into Lake Okeechobee for the calendar year to date. This data is provided by SFWMD’s DBHYDRO database. There has been no back-pumping into Lake Okeechobee from the Everglades Agricultural Area this year. Source: South Florida Water Management District Sponsored ContentTriEst Ag Group: Partners in ProfitabilityApril 1, 2024SECURE FUNDING NOW | USDA-Sponsored …
Safe Food Production Training to be Available to Florida’s Small and Beginning Farmers
November 19, 2020 By: Ruth Borger, 517-803-7631, rborger@ufl.edu LAKE ALFRED, Fla. — A new opportunity for Florida’s small and medium-sized produce farmers will become a reality with the support of a U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety Outreach Program (FSOP) grant designed to produce and provide easy-to-access training in safe food production methods to underserved farmers. Faculty from the University …
La Nina a Concern for Fruit, Vegetable Producers
A La Nina weather pattern is expected to last through early spring and bring warm and dry conditions to the Southeast. According to the Climate and Agriculture in the Southeast blog, Pam Knox, University of Georgia Extension Agricultural Climatologist, said that the NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center predicts a 100% chance of a La Nina through the winter and better than …
Decision-Support Tool Using HiPerGator May Help Manage Devastating Avocado Disease
November 18, 2020 By: Brad Buck, bradbuck@ufl.edu, 352-875-2641 (cell) UF/IFAS researchers are working on a decision-support app to help policy makers and growers decide the best regional treatment options for laurel wilt disease, which is challenging Florida’s $35 million-a-year avocado crop. Laurel wilt disease is spread by several ambrosia beetle vectors. People, whether they grow avocados or not, can spread …
Neopestalotiopsis Fruit Rot Warning for Strawberry Producers
Georgia strawberry producers need to monitor their plants for Neopestalotiopsis Fruit Rot. It has already caused problems for Florida farmers and nurseries in North Carolina where many Georgia farmers get their plugs from. “(Georgia producers) should be aware of it. We had a meeting on it again,” said University of Georgia plant pathologist Phil Brannen. “It has been found in …
Eta Impacts Florida’s Sugar Industry
The sugarcane industry in Florida was impacted by Hurricane-turned-Tropical Storm Eta last week. Farmers like Keith Wedgworth in Belle Glade, Florida continue to feel the effects of the rain-driven storm. As of earlier this week, Wedgworth still couldn’t get into fields to harvest his crop following Eta, which made landfall on the heels of an already wet fall. “We were …
U.S. Looking for Trade Action Against Fresh Produce Imports
Fresh produce coming into the United States is receiving increased scrutiny from the Trump Administration. Imported strawberries are now on the list of imported items that the administration wants investigated for possibly harming U.S. fruit and vegetable growers. Strawberry imports, mainly from Mexico, represent about 16% of the U.S. market, valued at approximately $2.5 billion every year. Gro-Intelligence Dot Com …
NIHC Receives USDA Market Access Program Funding for International Research and Promotion of Hemp
NIHC Becomes First Hemp Organization Officially Recognized by USDA Foreign Agricultural Service as Market Access Program (MAP) Partner WASHINGTON – The National Industrial Hemp Council announced it received $200,000 in U.S. Department of Agricultural (USDA) Market Access Program (MAP) funding to support export market development of industrial hemp. “We are grateful for USDA confidence and the recognition of NIHC as the …
USDA Restricts PACA Violators in California, Florida and Texas
November 13, 2020 – General News PRESS RELEASE: WASHINGTON, Nov. 13, 2020 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has imposed sanctions on three produce businesses for failing to meet contractual obligations to the sellers of produce they purchased and failing to pay reparation awards issued under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA). These sanctions include suspending the businesses’ PACA …