Melon Producers Beware: El Niño, Early Plantings Could Lead to Increased Fusarium Wilt Disease

Clint ThompsonFlorida, Georgia, Watermelon

By Clint Thompson North Florida watermelon producers should be wary of increased potential for fusarium wilt disease with planting season looming. The current El Niño weather pattern is offering cooler temperatures and wetter conditions, says Nick Dufalt, a plant pathologist with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. “I think being cooler always promotes fusarium wilt. Having …

Second Annual Drone Conference Scheduled for Feb. 26-29

Clint ThompsonAlabama

AUBURN UNIVERSITY, Ala. — The Alabama Cooperative Extension System is hosting the second annual Spray Drone End-User Conference on Feb. 26-29 at The Lodge at Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, Alabama. The first conference was held virtually in 2023, with 220 people in attendance. This year, Steve Li, an Alabama Extension weed scientist, and his team are offering the conference …

Best Practices for Corn Silk Fly Management

Clint ThompsonSpecialty Crop Grower Magazine

By Julien Beuzelin and Anna Mészáros Maggots feeding on silks, kernels and sometimes the cob of sweet corn ears harvested in Florida represent the greatest insect pest threat to the state’s fresh market sweet corn industry. These maggots are the larvae of three fly species known as corn silk flies. What to Look For Although the maggots of the three …

South Florida’s Top Weeds in Sweet Corn

Clint ThompsonFlorida

By Calvin Odero Weed management is essential in sweet corn production to maximize yield and quality. Effective weed management practices minimize competition for nutrients, water and sunlight and help prevent diseases and pests that often thrive in weed-infested fields. Sweet corn weed management programs in South Florida are mainly comprised of chemical weed control, which includes pre-emergent herbicides applied after …

Sneak Peek: January 2024 Specialty Crop Grower Magazine

Clint ThompsonSpecialty Crop Grower Magazine

Specialty Crop Grower Magazine is a new publication for AgNet Media. It is a product of the merger of Florida Grower and Specialty Crop Industry magazines. The inaugural January issue features the specialty crop tracker, a record of the crop progress based on observations from producers, Extension agents and industry stakeholders throughout the Southeast. The crops highlighted include watermelons, strawberries, …

Legislation Filed to Support, Grow Florida Ag

Clint ThompsonFlorida

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson, Senator Jay Collins, and Representative Danny Alvarez announced the filing of legislation last December to support Florida agriculture and Florida’s farmers, ranchers, and growers. Commissioner Wilton Simpson said, “This legislation reflects our continued commitment to supporting and protecting Florida’s farmers, ranchers, and growers, enhancing consumer protection and transparency, and building upon …

Digital Twin Technology Helps Scientists Simulate Problems, Provide Solutions for Growers

Clint ThompsonFlorida

Farmers should benefit greatly from digital twin technology, which leverages significant advances in big data, computing power and artificial intelligence to generate virtual representations of the physical world. A digital twin is a virtual model designed to accurately reflect a physical object, process or system. At least two University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) scientists are …

Powdery Mildew Disease Resistance Concerning for Florida Watermelon Producers

Clint ThompsonFlorida

By Clint Thompson North Florida watermelon growers should be cautious about powdery mildew disease heading into the upcoming season. Its potential resistance to fungicide applications has industry experts like Nick Dufalt wary with the start of the season just a couple of months away. Dufalt, a plant pathologist with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, talked …

Drought Monitor Update: Dry Conditions Decreasing Across Southeast Region

Clint ThompsonDrought

By Clint Thompson Much-needed rainfall during December helped alleviate much of the drought present across the Southeast, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. It is seen especially in Georgia and Florida and part of Alabama. Florida is mostly drought free, though abnormally dry conditions are still present in Escambia and Santa Rose counties in the Panhandle. Some areas along the …

Other Fungicide Products Could Be Impacted by EPA

Clint ThompsonFlorida, Watermelon

By Clint Thompson First chlorothalonil. What’s next for watermelon growers? It was the message delivered by Nick Dufalt, a plant pathologist with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, to producers and industry leaders at the Suwanee Valley Watermelon Institute meeting in Fanning Springs on Nov. 30. Chlorothalonil’s usage could be reduced in the near future by …