By Clint Thompson
The Citrus & Specialty Crop Expo returned home this year and provided the same vital information to steer growers to long-term sustainability.
This week’s two-day event, held Wednesday and Thursday, was held in Fort Myers, Florida, its original home for nearly three decades.
Citrus and specialty crop growers, along with vendors and industry specialists, flocked to the Caloosa Sound Convention Center and Luminary Hotel in Fort Myers.
Citrus producers learned everything from new varieties to oxytetracycline (OTC) updates to horticultural tools to improve tree health. Specialty crop farmers learned about pest management, optimizing plasticulture production and emerging alternative crops.
Tradeshow
The tradeshow was once again a highlight of the event, allowing vendors to interact with farmers and continue forging working relationships.
Meg Wally, sales and inventory coordinator with Tree Defender, has attended the Expo the past six years. She appreciated it returning to South Florida.
“It’s great to be back home. We are seeing a lot of our friends that we haven’t seen in a long time; the intimate setting. We’re spending more time with those friends and those growers. The venue is beautiful, the food is fabulous. Everybody is having a really good time,” Wally said.
Wally touted the seminar room’s proximity to the tradeshow and how that made the farmers even more appreciative of the new location.
“It’s a huge bonus. The growers are expressing that they’re not having to get hot, get out there in the sweat and the humidity. It’s right here. The air conditioning is working beautifully,” Wally said. “They’re very happy with the convenience.”
Worth the Trip
It was a beneficial two days for all in attendance. It has to be, considering the distances that some growers had to travel to come to the event.
“It’s a long way to come, but I’ve met some growers from South Georgia that spent eight, nine hours to get here. It has to be worth it to draw them down here,” said Allen Hartle, with Hartle Groves near Montverde, Florida. “That’s where the networking really comes home.”
The Expo was held in Tampa from 2023-2025.