By Peter Chaires
As fall approached and Hurricane Milton was not yet on the radar, growers were quietly discussing promising results from oxytetracycline (OTC) therapy. As one would expect, results are as variable as the products, methods of application and factors in the field. However, the view from 40,000 feet was encouraging. Growers not only reported positive observations in their round-orange and grapefruit plantings, but also in navel oranges.
Though Florida’s subtropical climate is far from ideal for navel orange production, navels were long an important variety category for fresh packinghouses. Northern markets produced strong demand for navels in tourist-driven roadside retail, gift fruit and commercial channels. It’s no secret that HLB has decimated navel orange production in Florida. Nursery orders for navel trees represent a small fraction of overall sales. Retail sales can be strong at times, but commercial plantings of navels are scarce.
Some packers have looked north to the border counties as a possible source of quality navel oranges with the color, size and internal qualities demanded by the competitive marketplace. New Varieties Development & Management Corp. has acquired trial and commercial rights to several interesting navel orange varieties but struggles to find growers willing to host a trial or move forward with even small-scale production. In many cases, navel orange trees appear to maintain better than average tree health, but fruit production and fruit quality have been decimated by HLB. When looking at the numbers, one could reasonably conclude the navel oranges are part of Florida’s citrus history but perhaps not its future.
TRUNK-INJECTION BENEFITS
Fast forward to fall 2024. Some growers have observed that navel orange trees that received multiple OTC injection treatments seem to be responding positively. Fruit size is better. More importantly, eating quality is returning. There are even coffee shop conversations about replanting navel blocks. Grower confidence is not bubbling over, but there is renewed interest and curiosity.
In some cases, the treated navel trees were at the end of rows of other commercial varieties, in a yard, etc. The sample size for treated navels appears much smaller than with other varieties of greater commercial importance. For this reason, Citrus Nursery Source is interested in hearing about your experiences and observations related to navel orange trees under injection treatment. Are you encouraged by what you are seeing? Are you encouraged enough to explore new plantings of navels? Do different navel orange varieties respond differently to treatment? Is peel color improving on fruit from treated trees? Are you treating Minneola and other fresh varieties in concert with the navels? Are you seeing similar results? Please send your notes and observations to pchaires@nvdmc.org. Your name will be held confidential and will not be attributed to your response.
TAKE HEART
Hurricane Milton, arriving on top of an already disappointing estimate, certainly compounded the challenges faced by many citrus growers and nurseries. Please know that many faithful individuals and groups continue to hold you up in prayer. In times like these I often take comfort in Isaiah 41:10.
There are signs of hope and reasons for optimism. Though the frequency of these storms is reminiscent of the freezes of the 1980s, the industry will, as it did then, prevail, emerge and move forward. The industry will change and will not likely function the same, but the resilience of Florida’s citrus growers and nursery growers and the strong collective support of University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service, state and federal agencies and our elected representatives will help build a foundation upon which the new industry will rest.
Peter Chaires is executive director of the New Varieties Development & Management Corp.
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