With about 11,000 acres — mostly in west-central Florida — strawberries are worth $399 million annually in Florida. That represents 10% of the national strawberry value and most of the domestically produced winter crop in the United States. Those economic figures make it vital for the state’s strawberry growers to manage pests and diseases effectively. While producers began planting for …
Georgia Strawberry Production: What Producers Should Plan For
By Clint Thompson Georgia’s strawberry crop emerged unscathed last week amid low temperatures, according to Jeff Cook, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources agent for Peach and Taylor counties. “Everything looks fine. Nothing really got burnt. It doesn’t even look like anything happened,” Cook said. He discussed what growers should be mindful of right now at this …
Alabama Strawberry Producers Be Wary of Diseases
By Clint Thompson Strawberry plantings are being conducted across Alabama. Producers need to be wary of different diseases prior to planting. Ed Sikora, professor and Extension plant pathologist in the department of entomology and plant pathology at Auburn University, suggests growers apply a fungicide dip to help with Anthracnose. “This will provide some early-season protection against anthracnose and someother diseases,” …
Florida Ag Expo Scheduled for Nov. 2
By Clint Thompson The Florida Ag Expo is a couple of weeks away for those interested in attending the annual event in Wimauma, Florida. The expo, scheduled for Nov. 2 from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center (GCREC), provides pertinent information regarding specialty crop production in the Southeast. Josh McGill, show director for …
Florida Strawberry Growers Association: ‘We’re Just Thankful’
By Clint Thompson Timing can be everything to the success of a crop. If Hurricane Ian had arrived in Florida a week later for example, the state’s strawberry crop could have sustained considerable damage. As it stood, few, if any plants were in the ground last week when the hurricane ravaged the state. Florida producers were fortunate, says Brianne Reichenbach, …
Florida Blueberry Growers Support 301 Investigation
The Florida Blueberry Growers Association (FBGA) added its voice to other agriculture producer groups in support of the Florida delegation’s Section 301 petition to protect the state’s fresh fruit and vegetable farmers from the rapidly rising onslaught of heavily subsidized Mexican produce. “Now is the time to deliver relief to domestic producers under assault from foreign imports, including blueberry growers,” …
Blueberry Growers Support Bipartisan Florida Petition on Mexican Trade Practices
The Florida Blueberry Growers Association (FBGA) added its voice to other agriculture producer groups in support of the Florida delegation’s Section 301 petition to protect the state’s fresh fruit and vegetable farmers from the rapidly rising onslaught of heavily subsidized Mexican produce. “Now is the time to deliver relief to domestic producers under assault from foreign imports, including blueberry growers,” …
Insect Pests Top Concerns of Strawberry Producer Ahead of ’22 Crop
By Clint Thompson Strawberry planting season is still a couple of months away for Florida producers. One factor that is already on the mind of grower Dusty Grooms is the impact that two insect pests had in 2021 – chilli thrips and spider mites. The strawberry producer with Fancy Farms in Plant City, Florida, discussed the issue that plagued his …
Surging Input Costs Impact Florida’s Specialty Crop Season
By Clint Thompson Strong market prices for some specialty crops have been tempered by input costs that have spiked to levels many growers had not experienced before the COVID-19 pandemic. No Florida specialty crop producer was immune from feeling the financial pinch this year from rising expenses associated with fertilizer, chemicals, diesel and freight. “Our input costs are so much …
UF/IFAS Strawberry Specialist: Lack of Neopestalotiopsis a Blessing for Producers
By Clint Thompson A drier year meant a good production season for Florida strawberries regarding a lack of diseases. A state known for its high-quality strawberry crop was ravaged in prior seasons because of neopestalotiopsis fruit rot disease. But rainy seasons exacerbated the problem. This year’s dry weather led to minimal disease impact, said Vance Whitaker, University of Florida Institute …