By Clint Thompson
North Florida watermelon growers are in the planning stages for next year’s crop in the Suwanee Valley region. That made Thursday’s Suwanee Valley Watermelon Institute in Fanning Springs, Florida, especially important.
University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) researchers highlighted trendy topics that producers must consider, a little more than two months away from planting season. This included grafting, ways to reduce costs in 2026 and UF/IFAS programs available to watermelon farmers.
Mark Warren, UF/IFAS Extension agent in Levy County, highlighted the meeting’s importance in an interview with AgNet Media.
“This is a super important crop to our region, and when I say our region, I mean the entire Suwanee Valley,” Warren said. “A lot of our farmers depend on the potential earning opportunities of this crop to help carry them through the rest of the season. It’s a really important crop to us.
“This event is a multi-purpose event. One, it just gets our farmers together, interacting and visiting with each other, trying to figure out what their plans are. Obviously, it’s a great connection for our allied industry partners to connect with our local farms. I think they really look forward to this opportunity.
“For us and IFAS and this program, it’s our opportunity to get some of this science-based information out just to help our farms not have to guess at things they need to know and hopefully provide them evidence that helps support some of the decisions that they’ve got to make for this upcoming season.”