Summer Update Informs Growers on Impactful Issues

The annual Citrus Grower’s Summer Update meeting on Aug. 14 in Valdosta, Georgia, provided cold-hardy growers with updates on several factors impacting the industry.

Information on topics ranging from snails to phytophthora to Asian citrus psyllid trapping were presented to growers who are on the cusp of harvesting another season’s crop.

Jake Price, University of Georgia (UGA) area citrus agent and event organizer, talked about the meeting and its importance to producers in North Florida, South Georgia and South Alabama.

“We call this the Summer Update, so we let growers know of some of the projects and research that we’re doing, especially with Mary Sutton, (UGA assistant professor and citrus Extension specialist),” Price said. “She’s been here a full year now and has a lot of projects going on and doing a great job out there. We let growers know what the latest is on diseases like phytophthora, and we covered tracking Asian citrus psyllid movement.

“We also had Lauren Diepenbrock, (University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences associate professor) who came from Lake Alfred, Florida. She’s been doing a lot of research on snails. Snails are a big problem in citrus and a lot of other crops up here.”

Satsumas remain the most widely grown citrus variety produced in the cold-hardy region. However, satsuma production is expected to be minimal this year following last year’s oversupply. That puts an added importance on meetings like this so growers can learn how to be more efficient and sustainable with their production from year to year.

“Last year was a big year for satsuma production. It was an ‘on’ year because the previous year had a hard freeze that reset all of the trees. Last year, we had a lot of fruit,” Price said. “This year, the satsumas have very little fruit. Growers are regathering and rethinking how they’re going to do some things. Some of the other varieties we have are producing this year. I think overall, the production will be down from last year. We have less and less satsumas in Georgia every year, but the ones that we do have, we need to find a way to keep them producing more consistently.”