(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
PSA: Well Water Safety After a Hurricane
After a hurricane, is your well water safe to use? If your private well or septic system was damaged during the storm, your well water may be contaminated with harmful bacteria. To avoid getting sick, make sure you boil or disinfect your water before using it for drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, cleaning wounds or cooking. Boil water for at …
More Ways to Manage Fusarium Wilt
By Karla Arboleda Five years ago, there was no solid foundation for managing fusarium wilt in watermelons. Now, researchers have identified several techniques watermelon growers can use to help combat the disease. Nicholas Dufault, associate professor of plant pathology at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), says his research on the pathogen is leading to …
Florida Hemp Diseases on the Horizon
Florida growers are not strangers to dealing with disease, and future hemp growers will be no different. Nicholas Dufault, University of Florida (UF) associate professor of plant pathology, has been working on the UF hemp pilot project to examine what kind of diseases hemp growers could see in the field. He presented his initial findings at a recent hemp workshop …
Sneak Peek: September VSCNews Magazine
The September issue of VSCNews magazine is packed with information ranging from breeding updates to peach production. Florida growers will recognize the man on the cover next month. On July 31, University of Florida (UF) Extension Agent Gene McAvoy retired. The September VSCNews cover story dives deep into McAvoy’s career and tells how he went from world traveler to Florida …
Disease Watch for Florida Vegetables and Specialty Crops
By Karla Arboleda Gene McAvoy, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) emeritus vegetable Extension agent, discussed South Florida crop diseases during the 2019 Vegetable and Specialty Crop Expo seminars. McAvoy mentioned diseases that are currently prevalent in the United States, like black tar spot in field corn, and how basil downy mildew has affected production in …
‘Florida Farmers Are Going to Be the Best Hemp Growers in the Country’
by Ernie Neff “Florida farmers will eventually overtake the rest of the country” in hemp production, predicts Holly Bell, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) director of cannabis. In an interview with Citrus Industry Editor Tacy Callies, Bell summarizes her talk at the general session of Citrus Expo. Bell says “Florida farmers are going to be the best …
Perdue on New Draft Suspension Agreement on Fresh Tomatoes from Mexico
Washington, D.C. (USDA) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue issued the following statement after U.S. Department of Commerce announced a new Draft Suspension Agreement on Fresh Tomatoes from Mexico: “I want to thank my colleagues at the U.S. Department of Commerce for working diligently to reach a mutually beneficial agreement for tomato growers in both the U.S. and Mexico. …
Facts of the Flow: Lake Okeechobee, 2019 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
Tomato Brown Rugose Spreading Globally
By Karla Arboleda Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) is not currently in Florida produce, but the virus has a global track record. Detected first in 2015 in Jordan, and with outbreaks as recent as 2018 in California, ToBRFV is easily transmitted through contact. Ozgur Batuman, citrus pathologist at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Southwest …