University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) plant physiologist Ute Albrecht described the use of microbial amendments, specifically biostimulants, at a July 26 seminar in Immokalee. Albrecht works at the UF/IFAS Southwest Florida Research and Education Center, site of the seminar hosted by multi-county citrus Extension agent Mongi Zekri. “Biostimulants come in a…
Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue to Draw FFA Raffle Winners
Citrus Expo is excited to host U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue on Wednesday, August 16, along with U.S. Representative Tom Rooney. Perdue and Rooney will walk the trade show floor and mingle with the Citrus Expo exhibitors and attendees. Citrus Expo will provide Perdue and Rooney with a firsthand look at the challenges faced…
Hunt Brothers Fellowship Grows Future Citrus Industry Leaders
Even when Matt Mattia was studying tomato breeding as a master’s student at the University of Florida (UF), he was dreaming of citrus. Now a doctoral student at UF, he’s working toward achieving that dream of working in one of Florida’s most important industries. Thanks to the Hunt Brothers Fellowship, which funds graduate research in…
Moroccan Citrus: Increased Production Brings Marketing Challenges
By Hassan Farouk Ahmed Morocco’s citrus production reached 2.3 million metric tons (MT) in 2016–17, an increase of 15 percent over the previous marketing year. Orange production increased by 4 percent, to 962,250 MT, while tangerine and mandarin production increased 24 percent to 1,325,246 MT. Much of the increase in production was due to increases…
Sneak Peek: August 2017 Citrus Industry Magazine
The August issue of Citrus Industry magazine serves as the show guide for the 2017 Citrus Expo. Now in its 26th year, Citrus Expo is the largest trade show and seminar program of its kind in the United States. The event takes place August 16–17 at the Lee Civic Center in North Fort Myers, Florida.…
In-Field Fruit Fogging for Psyllid Control
The California Citrus Research Board (CRB) hosted live Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) fogging demonstrations in April. The purpose was to show the viability of controlling the spread of ACP by fogging shipments of citrus on the truck, as close to the harvested field as possible. Spencer Walse, CRB research scientist specializing in chemical applications in agriculture, carried out the…
Management Plan for Roots of HLB-Infected Trees
By Jaci Schrekengost As huanglongbing (HLB) continues to decimate citrus crops, researchers continue to search for new, efficient ways growers can manage the disease. HLB, also known as citrus greening disease, is vectored by the Asian citrus psyllid. The disease affects the entire tree, including the roots and fruit. Tripti Vashisth, assistant professor and citrus…
UC Puts HLB Research Online in Easy-To-Read Updates
California citrus farmers have their ears perked for all news related to Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), huanglongbing (HLB) disease and HLB research, but some of the very latest advances have been available only in highly technical research journals, often by subscription only. University of California (UC) Cooperative Extension scientists are now translating the research into…
Farm Labor Supervisor Training Coming in Fall
Carlene Thissen, project coordinator for farm labor supervisor training at the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center in Immokalee, discusses the training scheduled for this fall. “We have for the last five years offered training to farm labor supervisors,” Thissen says. “So basically the way we say it, regarding farm workers, we make their bosses…
Citrus Chief Gets New Contract, No Raise
From News Service of Florida Shannon Shepp, executive director of the Florida Department of Citrus, will not receive a raise under a new contract approved Wednesday. The Florida Citrus Commission unanimously approved the deal, which alters Shepp's severance package. The package initially would have given her the equivalent of 20 weeks' pay if she was…
UF Researcher Working on HLB Solutions
By Jaci Schreckengost All research at the Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC) at the University of Florida (UF) currently deals with huanglongbing (HLB) to help protect the citrus industry. "Even if we're interested in looking into other things, this needs to be solved in order to be able to have an industry to work…
Citrus Expo to Host U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue
Citrus Expo is proud to announce that U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue will be attending the first day of the show on Wednesday, August 16, with U.S. Representative Tom Rooney. Perdue and Rooney are looking forward to walking the tradeshow floor and viewing the top-of-the-line products and services the Citrus Expo exhibitors have to…
Monitoring Tree Health Using Water-Uptake Rate
By Reza Ehsani, Azadeh Alizadeh and Davie Kadyampakeni Many scientists in Florida and other parts of the world are working hard to find a treatment for citrus greening and frequently conducting field trials to evaluate the effectiveness of their treatments. Monitoring plant physiological factors, yield and fruit quality are usually among the factors that they…
High-Density Planting Increases Yields
Larry Black, general manager of Peace River Packing Company in Fort Meade, told growers at the recent Florida Citrus Mutual conference about his company’s success with high-density plantings. Black reported some four-year-old Valencia blocks are producing more than 300 boxes per acre. That’s double the current average Florida citrus yield of about 150 boxes per…
Justices Reject Challenge to Scott Citrus Veto
by Jim Saunders, News Service of Florida Despite clear frustrations of some justices, the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday declined to invalidate Gov. Rick Scott's veto of $37.4 million that lawmakers approved to compensate homeowners whose healthy citrus trees were cut down by the state more than a decade ago. The ruling pointed to circuit…
Florida Citrus Harvest Lowest in Decades
by Jim Turner, News Service of Florida The final forecast of the 2016-2017 season for Florida's struggling citrus industry shows the orange crop falling 16 percent from the previous season --- which, itself, had been at a five-decades low. And after a season of severe drought, combined with the continued fight against a deadly citrus…
Final U.S. Citrus Crop Forecast Down 17 Percent from Last Season
Candi Erick, the agricultural statistics administrator with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Florida Agricultural Statistics Service, reports the final citrus crop forecast of the 2016-17 season. The United States all-orange forecast for the 2016-2017 season is down 2 percent from last month and down 17 percent from last season's final utilization. The…
UF/IFAS Microbiologist Works Toward Greening Treatment
by Brad Buck, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences In the same year the University of Florida’s (UF) Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC) celebrates its 100th anniversary, Nian Wang believes he may be close to finding the “off switch” for greening, the disease devastating Florida’s multi-billion-dollar-a-year citrus industry. Wang, an associate professor…
Korea Requirements for Fuller Rose Beetle
As in previous years, orange shipments to Korea must be free of Fuller rose beetle (FRB) and California red scale (CRS). Growers desiring to qualify oranges for export to South Korea must comply with the FRB protocol during the 2017-2018 shipping season. Growers are required to implement the following measures for FRB control on oranges:…
Understanding Soil-Moisture Sensor Data
By Arnold Schumann and Laura Waldo Florida citrus trees may require irrigation throughout the year due to the extremely sandy soils with low water-holding capacities and the warm subtropical climate with distinct drought periods in spring. Citrus trees are evergreen and may be actively growing at any time, with no true dormant phase. HLB-affected trees…