By Clint Thompson The constant influx of foreign imports on top of Florida vegetables has impacted one producer in how he farms. Chuck Obern with C&B Farms, located south of Clewiston, has discontinued planting certain vegetables he has grown for years. He produced peppers and eggplant for 30 years. But he couldn’t compete with rising imports, so he stopped. “I …
Trends in Florida Tomato Production and Markets
By Kimberly L. Morgan, Xiuri Cui and Zhengfei Guan Driven by consumer demand, the fresh tomato supply-chain network includes product harvested at different maturity stages, resulting in a unique marketing process distinguishable from other produce. Fresh tomatoes are typically marketed either through retail or foodservice channels. From farm to fork, the supply chain is divided into stages with different entities: …
Dry Weather Aids North Florida/South Georgia Tomato Production
By Clint Thompson The prolonged dry period sweeping across the Southeast benefited tomato producers in the North Florida/South Georgia region. Growers welcomed the dry conditions that helped save the crop from bacterial spot disease. Josh Freeman, an agronomist and regional manager with TriEst Ag Group, discussed the impact that minimal rainfall had on tomato production. “Everything started off really bad. …
What’s Happening? Clemson Extension Agents Provide Updates on Crops
Weekly Field Update – 11/7/22 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 Rob Last reports, “Strawberry plants have arrived in the last two weeks and are in the ground. Overall, plantings look good. One thing to consider is using overhead irrigation to …
Apps Ease the Task of Fertigation for Growers
By Denise Attaway The days of manually calculating numbers on spreadsheets to determine how much liquid fertilizer should be used to fertigate crops may soon be gone, thanks to new web-based calculators (apps) from Clemson University. The Clemson Center Pivot Fertigation Calculator and Clemson Drip Fertigation Calculator are free apps created by the Clemson Cooperative Extension Service precision agriculture team …
Diesel Shortage? Higher Costs Could Impact SE
By Clint Thompson A challenging season for the specialty crop industry could be exacerbated if fears of a potential diesel shortage come to fruition. Mansfield Energy, a major provider of fuel delivery, announced in late October that it was moving to Alert Level 4 to address market volatility. It moved the Southeast (SE) to Code Red, requesting a 72-hour notice …
Florida Ag Expo Explores Fresh Produce Trends
By Frank Giles The 14th annual Florida Ag Expo was held on Nov. 2 at the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Wimauma, Florida. The event was well attended by specialty crop growers, industry representatives and commercial suppliers. The event hosted a wide-ranging educational program touching on trends in produce marketing, the economy and the supply chain outlook for …
Deploying Friendly Fungi in Citrus
Entomopathogenic fungi have recently been seen attacking citrus whitefly and cloudywinged whitefly nymphs in North Florida citrus groves. Muhammad Shahid, Mujahid Hussain and Danielle Sprague, all with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), wrote about the “friendly” fungi in the October UF/IFAS Cold Hardy Citrus Connection newsletter. Shahid is a horticulturalist and Hussain is a graduate assistant, …
Citrus Trunk Injection Detailed at Meeting
What may be the closest thing yet to a timely silver bullet for HLB was discussed Oct. 26 at Lake Alfred’s Citrus Research and Education Center. Josh Steinbronn, director of research and development at TJ BioTech, said trunk injection of his company’s ReMedium TI oxytetracycline product suppresses Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas), the causal agent of HLB. He added that injection of the product significantly …
GFVGA’s Butts: We Are Enthused That USTR is Establishing a Panel
By Clint Thompson The U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) pledge of assistance to specialty crop producers was needed for growers suffering from increased imports from Mexico. Even if ambassador Katherine Tai opted not to follow through on a Section 301 petition to assist the Southeast seasonal produce industry, she pledged to work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to establish an …