Douglas Plant Health Is Now DPH Biologicals™

Tacy Callies Industry News Release

Douglas Plant Health announced it has changed its name to DPH Biologicals. The new name recognizes the century-long commitment of its parent company, Douglas Products, to deliver effective and high-quality products to its customers while more clearly focusing on expanding its biologicals product platform to deliver value to customers by sustainably increasing productivity, yield and profitability. In 2018, the assets …

Citrus World Reports Increased Returns

Ernie Neff Industry News Release

Citrus World, Inc. (CWI) reported its top pool for early- and mid-season oranges paid a combined $2.41 per pound solid (PPS) last season. The same combined pool for Valencia oranges paid $2.61 PPS. Grapefruit returned an average of $2.30 PPS. The results were announced at CWI’s annual stockholders’ meeting on Nov. 8. Chief Operating Officer Chris Groom discussed sales performance …

Farm Stress Help for Florida

Ernie Neff Industry News Release

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) has been awarded a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to carry out a new Farm Stress Awareness and Reduction Initiative in Florida. Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried announced the grant on Nov. 3, National Stress Awareness Day. With the grant, FDACS will launch an outreach campaign to …

Uncle Matt’s Organic Supports Charity

Ernie Neff Industry News Release

Uncle Matt’s Organic announced a partnership supporting Chris Nikic and his 1% Better Foundation. A portion of the proceeds from Uncle Matt’s Organic juice sales through January 2022 will be donated to the foundation. Nikic recently became the first person with Down Syndrome to complete a 140.6-mile Ironman triathlon. His success motto was to get “1 percent better” every day. …

Shekels Joins Certis Biologicals

Ernie Neff Industry News Release

Lee Shekels has joined Certis Biologicals in a newly created role, Florida citrus sales specialist. He will work with the company’s existing Florida sales and field development teams.  “Lee’s expertise and knowledge of the citrus industry will be key in bringing biologicals as proven crop protection tools to growers with sustainable product solutions to support growth in the industry,” said …

Johnson to Be UF/IFAS Extension Dean

Ernie Neff Industry News Release

Andra Johnson, associate director of Penn State Extension, will be the next dean of University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Extension and director of the Florida Cooperative Extension Service. He will assume the role on Nov. 1. Johnson will lead UF/IFAS’ statewide network of more than 650 faculty educators and scientists, whose programs support economic, environmental …

Gladstone Buys Florida Groves

Ernie Neff Industry News Release

Gladstone Land Corporation announced that it acquired two lemon and orange groves, totaling 617 acres, in South Florida for approximately $5.2 million. In connection with the acquisition, it entered into a 12-year leaseback agreement with the seller. The organization did not respond to a request for information about the seller or the location of the groves. “We are excited to …

New CBD Comes From Orange Peels

Ernie Neff Industry News Release

The company Peels has launched a CBD oil made from orange peels. Peels was founded by National Football League veteran Chris Hetherington, who serves as the company’s chief executive officer. Peels’ process of deriving CBD from orange peels is called cyclic terpene assembly, a proprietary technique for combining organic molecules. This process combines terpenes from orange peels with olivetol, a naturally …

january

Alico Gets Higher Prices, Less Fruit

Ernie Neff Industry News Release

Alico, Inc. received significantly higher prices for its citrus fruit in the 2020-21 harvest season, but had reduced box production and reduced average pound solids per box of fruit. The company’s average blended price for fruit was $2.45 per pound solids (PPS), up 31.7% from the $1.86 PPS it received the prior year. Alico cited “favorable industry supply dynamics” as …

Alico Fruit Price Rises; Production Declines

Ernie Neff Industry News Release

Alico, Inc. reported net income of approximately $8.7 million and earnings of $1.16 per share for the six-month period ending March 31, 2021. That’s about double the net income of approximately $4.4 million and earnings of 58 cents per share in the same period of the prior year. The increase in net income is primarily due to greater revenue generated from the Alico Citrus segment. The greater …

Aldicarb Registration Denied for Florida Citrus

Tacy Callies Industry News Release, Pesticides

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) denied AgLogic Chemical LLC’s state pesticide registration application for the pesticide aldicarb on citrus crops in the state of Florida. Aldicarb is an N-methyl carbamate insecticide primarily used as a nematicide. Responsible for the worst known outbreak of pesticide poisoning in North America, aldicarb is one of 28 active pesticide ingredients …

Spain’s Lemon Sector Aims to Further Reduce Carbon Footprint

Ernie Neff Industry News Release, lemons

Although Spain’s lemon industry is a net fixer of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and its carbon footprint is favorable, the industry could promote even greater CO2 fixation in the future. That’s one of the conclusions from a recent report from the Lemon and Grapefruit Interprofessional Association (AILIMPO). AILIMPO has indicated a series of recommendations; if implemented in the coming years, …

IMG Citrus Buys 2,500-Acre Grove

Ernie Neff Industry News Release

IMG Citrus, a citrus grower, packer and shipper in Vero Beach, Florida, recently bought a 2,500-acre grove in Charlotte County. The grove increases the company’s control of citrus land management in Florida by 27%; it now has 11,387 acres. The property was acquired from the Packers of Indian River. The grove was originally planted in the 1990s and known as …

Spain’s Lemon Industry Aids Climate

Ernie Neff Industry News Release, International, lemons

Spain’s lemon industry “actively contributes to the fight against climate change by being a real carbon sink,” according to a recent report from the Lemon and Grapefruit Interprofessional Association (AILIMPO). A carbon sink accumulates and stores some carbon-containing chemical compounds and thereby lowers the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. Globally, the two most important carbon sinks are …

Leading European Lemon Varieties

Ernie Neff Industry News Release, lemons

According to estimates by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service, European lemon production will reach 1.6 million tons in the 2020-2021 season, 11% more than in 2019-2020. European lemons are available 12 months of the year. The two main varieties are Fino and Verna, according to Welcome to the Lemon Age. The Lemon and Grapefruit Interprofessional Association coordinates …

New Pest Product Introduced

Ernie Neff Industry News Release, Pests

Bayer has introduced Vynyty Citrus®, its latest biological and pheromone-based crop protection product to control pests on citrus farms. Vynyty Citrus®, a container with an active liquid inside, does not generate resistance or residues in harvests or in the environment, according to Bayer. It is the first such product on the market that is formulated with pheromones and natural pyrethrum …

Alico: Increased Citrus Prices Expected to Continue

Tacy Callies financial, Industry News Release

Alico, Inc., one of Florida’s largest citrus producers, announced financial results for the fiscal quarter ending Dec. 31. Some highlights regarding the company’s citrus operation follow. For the quarter, Alico Citrus harvested approximately 0.8 million boxes of fruit, a decrease of 14.6 percent from the first quarter of the prior fiscal year. The decrease was principally related to there being …

Uncle Matt’s Launches E-Commerce Site

Tacy Callies Industry News Release

Uncle Matt’s Organic® has made its juices and functional beverages accessible to more consumers with the launch of a new e-commerce site. Currently, shipping is available to most of the East Coast, with plans to expand nationwide. The online store brings organic orange juice, lemonade and functional beverage bundles directly to consumers’ doors in one to two days via FedEx. Because …

International Year of Fruits and Vegetables Launched

Ernie Neff Industry News Release

The director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, Qu Dongyu, recently launched the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables 2021 (IYFV 2021).   IYFV 2021 is dedicated to raising awareness about the important role of fruits and vegetables in human nutrition, food security and health. FAO is the lead agency for celebrating the year in …

HLB-Positive ACP Found in San Diego County

Len Wilcox California Corner, Industry News Release, Psyllids

A citrus tree at a private residence near San Diego, California, has been found to be infected by four Asian citrus psyllids (ACP). Upon testing, the ACP were found to be carriers of the bacterium that causes citrus greening, also known as huanglongbing (HLB). The finding was announced by the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Citrus Pest and Disease …