Since he began growing citrus six years ago, Daryl Zelek has attended the Citrus & Specialty Crop Expo every year. He’ll be back again this year, and this time he’s bringing his wife so she can attend the vegetable seminars. The couple has already booked their stay at the Luminary Hotel and are looking forward to coming to the Caloosa Sound Convention Center in Fort Myers for the Aug. 12–13 event.
Zelek, a cold-hardy citrus grower, owns Goodland Farms in North Florida’s Greenville. It’s a long haul from Greenville to Fort Myers, but Zelek doesn’t think twice about making the trip.
“The amount of time saved by having many resources in one location makes this event worth my time,” Zelek says. “My favorite thing about the Expo is the convenience of having vendors, researchers, educators and colleagues all in one place for the exchange of ideas and goods.”
The seminars have been particularly beneficial for Zelek. “Some of the specific things I have learned and implemented in my grove are changing my nutritional program and moving toward more regenerative practices that have given me better fruit.”
He cites increased irrigation efficiency as another example of taking what he has learned from the Expo back to the grove. He says he has gained valuable insights on irrigation monitoring, frequency, timing and amount of water used. “This is saving me time, water and fuel,” says Zelek.
Besides the educational sessions being advantageous for learning methods to better manage his grove, Zelek says the event’s trade show is also of value to him. He gets “ideas from vendors, including use of chemicals and tools that aid in my production, as well as where to get the items. This complements the knowledge picked up in the seminars.”
While the educational opportunities in both the seminar sessions and the trade show floor have certainly been a draw for Zelek, he believes the contacts and connections he makes at the Expo are even more beneficial.
“Through the past six years, I have made many important contacts,” says Zelek. “Some of the contacts are vendors I do business with. I have also made good contacts in the research and educational end of the industry, and I am very grateful for the knowledge they have passed my way that has given me the successes I have had.”
Zelek believes the strongest connections he has made are with his fellow growers. “I can always ask their advice and expect a straight answer. The growers I initially met were the reason I went into the citrus industry. I call all of these people friends, and this is the most important reason to go to these events — the contacts.”