U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Representative Al Lawson (D-FL) led bipartisan members of the Florida congressional delegation to petition U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to initiate a Section 301 investigation of fruit and vegetable imports from Mexico and to secure trade relief for Florida growers. “The Biden Administration has affirmed its intention to protect and reinvigorate critical supply chains …
Rubio, Colleagues Petition USTR to Protect Florida Producers from Unfair Trade Practices
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Representative Al Lawson (D-FL) led bipartisan members of the Florida congressional delegation to petition U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to initiate a Section 301 investigation of fruit and vegetable imports from Mexico and to secure trade relief for Florida growers. …
Rains Spark Disease Fears for Pumpkin Growers in Northeast Alabama
By Clint Thompson Persistent rains in Northeast Alabama have sparked concerns about potential disease pressure among the region’s specialty crop producers, especially those pumpkin farmers. Eric Schavey, regional Extension agent in Northeast Alabama, discussed the impact that potential diseases could have on his area’s pumpkin crop. “That’s one thing we do start to worry about when we start getting rain …
Registration Ongoing for Upcoming Georgia Ag Labor Relations Forum
By Clint Thompson Registration is ongoing for the upcoming Georgia Ag Labor Relations Forum, scheduled for Nov. 9-10 at ABAC’s Georgia Museum of Agriculture in Tifton, Georgia. The event is tailored towards agricultural employers, human resource managers and administrators. It will provide discussions with leading experts on how to navigate the challenge of finding and maintaining a consistent workforce, says …
Minimal Dry Conditions in Southeast
Persistent rainfall in early September continues to provide adequate moisture for specialty crop producers planting their fall crops. Georgia is drought free. Alabama has minimal dry conditions in the northwest part of the state. Florida’s abnormally dry conditions are isolated to the southeast area of the state. This is according to Thursday’s release of the U.S. Drought Monitor. Only portions …
Florida Citrus Harvest is Underway
By Frank Giles Steven Callaham, CEO of the Dundee Citrus Growers Association (DCGA), reports citrus harvest got underway on Sept. 4. Brix in the tangerines being harvested are trending higher than last season, and he says that’s good news. “We are very pleased with the quality we are seeing this early in the season. As far as production is concerned, …
Florida Citrus Acreage Takes a Hit
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 …
What’s Happening? Clemson Extension Agents Provide Crop Updates
Clemson Extension agents provide updates in The South Carolina Grower this week about the status of various crops being produced throughout the state. Coastal Region Zack Snipes reports, “It rained every day last week, and we ended up with over eight inches. Field conditions are really soupy right now, and growers have had problems getting into some fields. Beware of …
AI-Enhanced System Detects Bruised Strawberries
Bruises in fruit can be caused by multiple factors: compression, impact or vibration during harvesting, transportation and packaging operations, said Xue Zhou, a doctoral student at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Zhou works with Yiannis Ampatzidis, a UF/IFAS associate professor, and Won Suk “Daniel” Lee, a professor, both …
Dry Weather Leads to Improved Grape Season
By Clint Thompson There is still a month left of harvest for some grape varieties in the Southeast, but the crop has already shown better results than last year. The better yields are attributed to the dry weather experienced this summer, said University of Georgia Cooperative Extension fruit disease specialist Phil Brannen. “I think, overall, it’s a lot better this …