Fresh fruit growers, packers and researchers will meet for the 2024 Packinghouse Day on Sept. 12 in Lake Alfred, Florida. The annual event will be held at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center. Registration opens at 8:30 a.m., and the event runs from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
The event is free to producers but requires registration. Lunch is free to the first 25 registrants. Online registration is encouraged. Registration may also be completed at the door on the day of the event.
To open the event, JBT FoodTech will sponsor coffee and donuts.
Packinghouse Day presentations will address these topics:
- Update on phytosanitary and regulatory issues
- Requirement for fruit movement among Florida, Georgia and Alabama
- Are greasy-green and rind blotch two faces of the same coin?
- Fruit quality of new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) mandarin hybrids
- Updates on pesticide maximum residue limits and global packaging regulations
Another highlight of the event will be the presentation of the John T. Lesley Award of Excellence. The award was first presented in 1981 to John T. Lesley for “recognition of an individual for outstanding leadership and service on behalf of the Florida fresh citrus industry.”
Packinghouse Day coordinator Mark Ritenour leads postharvest technology research at the UF/IFAS Indian River Research and Education Center in Fort Pierce. He will open the event with welcome messages from Michael Rogers, professor and director of the UF/IFAS CREC, and from Peter Chaires, executive vice president of Florida Citrus Packers. Scott Adkins, laboratory director for the USDA Agricultural Research Service, Horticultural Research Laboratory, will make a presentation on fresh citrus.
For more information on Packinghouse Day, contact Ritenour at ritenour@ufl.edu or 772-577-7359.
See highlights of the 2023 Packinghouse Day presentations here.
Source: UF/IFAS
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