By Yiannis Ampatzidis Vegetable growers face several serious challenges with respect to farm labor. The number of domestic farmworkers has decreased substantially. In some cases, growers are unable to fully harvest their marketable fruit. A high percentage of the remaining domestic workers are not legally authorized to work in the United States. The costs to recruit temporary foreign agricultural guest …
Citrus Breeding Must Focus on Speed and Results
By Peter Chaires It is typical for research and program planning to begin well before the current year’s programs and projects are completed and reports are filed. This always presents a challenge. However, the rapidly changing dynamics in the citrus industry has impacted this process in a profound way. The loss of growers, acreage and infrastructure is front and center …
Citrus Achievement Award Winner Kristen Carlson Crafting a Way Forward
By Frank Giles Since HLB was first confirmed in Florida more than 15 years ago, the state’s citrus crop has been on a steady decline. This season is set to finish with historically low production. Every segment of the industry has felt the pain of HLB’s endemic march. On the one hand, it is easy to understand why some would …
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 …
Main Concern for Georgia’s Specialty Crop Producers: Increasing Imports
By Clint Thompson High input costs. Supply availability. Weather unpredictability. All are challenges that Georgia’s specialty crop producers are facing this year. But the main concern remains market pricing, or lack thereof. Growers are still being haunted by imports and their impact on producers being able to make a profit, said Chris Butts, executive vice president of the Georgia Fruit …
Alabama Extension to Host Strawberry Production Meeting
One of Alabama’s specialty crops will be the focus of an upcoming strawberry production meeting. The state’s growers are invited to attend. Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES) will host a strawberry production meeting on Tuesday, June 14 in Jemison, Alabama. The meeting will start at 5 p.m. (est.) and conclude at 9 p.m. The meeting is designed specifically for producers …
Weekly Updates: Clemson Extension Agents Discuss State’s Crops
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 seems like everything is coming in from the fields right now. We got some rain but could really use some more. I am seeing lots of aphids on a variety of …
North Florida Watermelon Harvests Continuing
By Clint Thompson Harvests of North Florida watermelons are in full swing across the Suwanee Valley. How long they are able to continue vary from farm to farm. Bob Hochmuth, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) regional specialized Extension agent in Live Oak, Florida, discusses the outlook for how much longer the harvests will continue. “There’s …
Senator Visit: Ossoff Discusses Time Spent with Georgia Producers
By Clint Thompson U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) connected with South Georgia farmers on Thursday in an effort to hear producers voice their concerns ahead of the 2023 Farm Bill. The Georgia senator met with producers representing multiple commodities, including pecans at the Georgia Pecan Growers Association in Tifton, Georgia. He discussed the importance of interacting with growers. “It was …
Disease Update for North Florida Watermelons
Gummy stem blight remains the main disease threat to North Florida’s watermelons, as harvests continue across the Suwannee Valley. The combination of increased rains and harvest equipment moving through the fields provides better potential for the disease to spread, says Bob Hochmuth, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) regional specialized Extension agent in Live Oak, Florida, …