Last month, KeyPlex, a plant health product supplier, invited me to attend a peptide symposium. The use of peptides in citrus has become a hot topic in the past year, so the event drew about 80 growers and other industry stakeholders. KeyPlex presented the learning session at Streamsong Golf Resort in Bowling Green, FL. The company says it chose to …
Current and Future Citrus BMPs Getting a Closer Look
Word of a new Best Management Practices (BMP) manual and regulations being released this year has been causing a buzz among Florida citrus growers. The reason: phosphorus. With the passage of Senate Bill (SB) 712 (Clean Waterways Act) last year, Florida embarked on a legislative and regulatory path to address water quality issues plaguing sensitive ecosystems in the state, including …
Look Outside the Box for New Growth in Citrus Variety Development
Spanning back to its infancy, exploration has been one of New Varieties Development & Management Corp.’s (NVDMC) primary objectives. Make no mistake, Florida’s highest and best hope for citrus varieties of commercial significance lies in ongoing support of local breeding programs. Florida’s climatic conditions are unique and challenging. Endemic HLB probably tips the scales even further toward intrastate development as …
Latest Florida Citrus Survey Reveals a Year in Flux
The year 2021 will be another marked by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the summer, even as Floridians took measures like getting vaccinated, cases spiked again to new heights. As the year ends and case numbers fall again, the state and country will continue sorting out other fallout from the pandemic like rising costs and supply chain issues. …
Pathway to a Sustainable Florida Citrus Industry Ahead
The past year was tough for Florida citrus growers, I know. Production was down, and many growers had to dip further into savings or go more into debt to sustain their operations. Still, I’m optimistic. Here’s why: Many of the research building blocks necessary for a sustainable Florida citrus industry are in place. Research successes tend to be sequential in …
Learn the 3 New Cs of Citrus Variety Evaluation
The HLB era in Florida citrus has certainly altered the way routine tasks are performed. Nutrition, rootstock selection, grove architecture, and many other functions, once routine and invariable, are now approached from an entirely new perspective. For some growers, every step in their production system is in a fluid state, making the learning process more complex than ever. Nurseries and …
How Citrus Tree Nutrition Has Changed During the HLB Era
This the second installment of four special Q&A features honoring Larry Black, the 2021 Florida Grower Citrus Achievement Award winner. He is VP and General Manager of Ft. Meade, FL-based Peace River Packing Co. How has your fertilizer and plant nutrition program changed since HLB come on the scene? BLACK: Maintaining optimum tree nutrition is critical with endemic HLB. Infected …
Water Quality Concerns in Florida Stir up Citrus BMP and Phosphorus Questions
As blue-green algae makes headlines again this summer, fertilizer from farms and urban sources are again under scrutiny. Last year, the state legislature passed the Clean Waterways Act to address continuing challenges with water quality. The 111-page bill addresses agriculture, using biosolids as fertilizer, regulation of septic tanks, wastewater treatment systems, enhanced penalties, and other rules. It is part of …
Why This Lifelong Citrus Grower Is Taking a Deep Dive Into Regenerative Agriculture
As a fourth-generation grower, citrus runs in Brad Turner’s blood. From an early age, he worked his family’s groves near Litha, FL, and continued to grow and work as a caretaker for citrus operations until 2016. For Turner, like many others, HLB took its toll on his groves, robbing valuable yields and quality from once productive trees. That set him …
Track the Journey From Citrus Seed To Growing Success
The Florida Citrus Research Foundation (FCRF) provides oversight and support for the A.H. Whitmore Foundation Farm near Leesburg. The foundation and farm were initiated in 1959 as a means of supporting the Florida citrus industry through citrus field research, trial plantings, and cropping new citru ]]>



















