In early December, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) hosted its annual field day at the A.H. Whitmore Foundation Farm in Groveland, Florida. The field day was canceled last year due to Hurricane Milton. The storm brought 110 mph winds that stripped trees of fruit and caused other damage.
The field day showcased various rootstocks and varieties that have been released by USDA or are in development for future potential release. The grove at the Whitmore Farm had gained attention in recent years due to it being the home of the Donaldson variety tree, which stands out for its apparent HLB tolerance.
This year, the original Donalson tree appeared to be in decline, but Matt Mattia, a USDA research geneticist, reminded attendees that the tree is nearly 40 years old and suffered from the hurricane impact last year. A large trial planted in the grove is currently evaluating Donaldson offspring on different rootstocks.
Kim Bowman, USDA research geneticist, provided attendees with an update on his work to develop new rootstocks. Among those are the SuperSour rootstocks, which have been performing well. Bowman also shared data on the citrus rootstocks that have been released by USDA over the years. Swingle came in as the leader with approximately 63 million trees planted since its release. The popular US-942 has been planted on 7 million trees, and US-812 on 3 million trees.
The tour also featured research being conducted to identify avocado varieties suited for Central Florida. Among those are the Hass-type avocado, which is popular with consumers.
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