By Clint Thompson Florida vegetable producers hoping to control weeds with just fumigation need to be mindful of its erratic effectiveness, says Ramdas Kanissery, a weed scientist at the University of Florida/IFAS Southwest Florida Research and Education Center. “The thing with fumigation, what we have observed, there will be good effects on nematode suppression, but when it comes to weed …
Senator Warnock Cosponsors Legislation to Provide Financial Relief to Small Farmers
From the Office of Senator Warnock Washington, D.C. – Last week at the Senate agriculture committee, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) emphasized the importance of Congress supporting small farmers, including passing the Relief for America’s Small Farmers Act — legislation cosponsored by Senator Warnock that will support America’s small farmers through financial relief to mitigate losses suffered due to chain disruptions …
Protecting Peppers from Bacterial Spot
By Pamela Roberts and Cami Esmel McAvoy Bell and specialty peppers, such as jalapeños, are grown throughout the United States and worldwide for the fresh market or processing. Bacterial spot, caused by three different species of Xanthomonas, is a major disease affecting all pepper types. The most commonly occurring species in the United States and Florida is Xanthomonas euvesicatoria. The …
Sanitation Key for Whitefly Management in Tomatoes
By Clint Thompson Planting season is under way for Florida’s tomato producers. Hopefully, farmers have done their due diligence and planned for whiteflies with proper sanitation of previous crops. That is one of the best management tactics growers can implement, says Hugh Smith, Associate Professor of Entomology and Nematology at the University of Florida Gulf Coast Research and Education Center. …
Alabama Producers Be Wary of Pickleworms
According to the Alabama Vegetable IPM Facebook page, producers need to be wary of pickleworms on squash and cucumbers. This is especially essential for growers with the late-planted crop. Alabama Extension describes pickleworms as large moths with semi-transparent yellowish wings and dark wing borders. Male and female moths have tufts of hair at the end of their dark abdomen. Moths …
Plummeting Prices: Central Florida Groves not as Valuable as Used to be
Central Florida grove land sold for about 30% less per net tree acre in 2020 than the year before, according to a firm that sells Florida land. Brian Beasley, senior advisor at SVN Saunders Ralston Dantzler in Lakeland, reported the sales in the firm’s Lay of the Land 2020 Market Report. “We assume most of this decrease (in prices) is …
Tomato Producers Be Wary of Fall Diseases
By Clint Thompson Tomato season is here for producers in Florida. Diseases like bacterial leaf spot and target spot should be on the mind of growers preparing their fungicide programs, says Josh Freeman, University of Florida/IFAS Associate Professor in Horticultural Science. “In the fall season we really worry about bacterial leaf spot getting established early just because we’re in a …
Update on Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus in Florida
By Ozgur Batuman and Salih Yilmaz Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) is a highly contagious, devastating and economically important plant virus. It mainly threatens greenhouse-grown vegetable crops worldwide, especially tomatoes and peppers. ToBRFV is very similar to other tobamoviruses, such as tomato mosaic virus (ToMV) and tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), two tomato-infecting viruses common to most Florida growers. Although …
Wet Summer: Minimal Dry Conditions Reported Across Southeast
Alabama, Florida, Georgia have sufficient moisture and are not reporting any abnormally dry conditions, according to Thursday’s release of the U.S. Drought Monitor. Persistent rainfall has been the dominant story of this year’s summer for most of the Southeast region. Similar conditions are being reported up the East Coast. Only a small portion of Greenville County and Spartanburg County are …
Cooler, Wetter Weather Reported in July
It comes as no surprise to anyone in the Southeast this summer that July is cooler and wetter than normal in most areas. This is according to Pam Knox, University of Georgia Extension Agricultural Climatologist. Knox reported in her University of Georgia Extension Climate and Agriculture blog that even with the warmer temperatures being experienced this week, cooler temperatures and …