“This year we’re really doubling down and looking to improve our communications even further,” says Michael Rogers, director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC). “Communications continue to be our focus in the statewide IFAS citrus program.”
A big part of the communication effort is getting information to growers “that they can put to use now in their citrus groves,” Rogers says.
Rogers offers a brief history of the citrus communications effort that began in 2018. “At the Citrus Expo, we launched our All In For Citrus program,” he says. That included the All In For Citrus podcast, a new citrus website and a newsletter. All In For Citrus, he says, is an effort “to get more information out to growers.” He says some of the communications efforts have worked well, but that others, like the website, need more work.
According to Rogers, the All In For Citrus podcast is now attracting 400 to 500 listeners per month, “which is outstanding.”
Rogers announces that Ruth Borger, former assistant vice president of UF/IFAS Communications, joined the CREC in early January. “She’s now leading the statewide citrus outreach program” as director of communications for citrus outreach, Rogers says. She’ll be involved in the overall communications effort and work with UF/IFAS faculty in Lake Alfred, Fort Pierce, Gainesville and Immokalee.
Rogers also offers an update on the search for a new UF/IFAS vice president. He says dates and locations for interviews with candidates will be announced soon, and that growers will have a chance to interact with the candidates and offer input. Rogers also discusses a few upcoming UF/IFAS events.
This interview with Rogers was featured in January’s All In For Citrus podcast, a joint project of UF/IFAS and AgNet Media. Listen to the full podcast here.
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