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News for citrus growers around the globe
By Brenda Eubanks Burnette This year’s Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival poster featured a look reminiscent of the old citrus crate labels. The artist, Florida native Don Dewitt, noted the poster was also a “nod” to the Winter Park Farmers’ Market located by the old train depot on New England Avenue. The depot was built in 1926 when Winter Park …
Florida farmers awaiting federal disaster relief to help cover losses from Hurricane Irma last September may learn more details this week about the highly anticipated program. The $2.36 billion Wildfires and Hurricanes Indemnity Program (WHIP) is expected to offer a direct-payments model that would not hold growers to traditional payment limitations and would establish a state-managed program to handle tree …
Jim Snively, vice president of grove operations at Southern Gardens Citrus, discusses his company’s management of HLB and the psyllids that spread it. He summarizes a presentation he made at the International Citrus Business Conference in March. “By reducing stress, the trees can deal with disease much better,” Snively says. “We’re doing this through continuous-type feeding or frequent feeding with …
By Len Wilcox California’s consistent sunshine makes for long growing seasons and allows tremendous varieties of foods to be grown, but it isn’t a perfect environment. Chronic water shortages create challenges for everything except cactus grown for tequila or jelly — but not many growers specialize in that. The rest of them, including citrus growers, have to deal with water …
On April 18, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced that the details of the $2.3 billion disaster relief program for Florida citrus growers impacted by Hurricane Irma will be finalized by next week. Congressman Thomas J. Rooney (R-FL), who spearheaded the relief effort, issued the following statement in response: “Today, Secretary Perdue reassured Florida citrus producers that he is working to make sure that disaster relief is made …
By Lukasz L. Stelinski, Jawwad A. Qureshi and Philip A. Stansly Florida citrus is host to four main groups of mites categorized by differences in lineage and morphology. However, only rust mites, spider mites and broad mites historically cause economic damage to commercially grown citrus in the state. The fourth group, referred to as false spider mites, are vectors elsewhere …
Phil Stansly, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences entomologist, discusses alternatives to imidacloprid for helping to control HLB-spreading Asian citrus psyllids (ACP). “Imidacloprid of course is typical of the neonicotinoids that we’ve been using as soil applications to protect young trees,” Stansly says. “We’ve seen and the growers have seen, too, that soil applications of systemic insecticides …
The Florida Legislature and Governor Rick Scott have approved a sales tax rebate program for agricultural producers and growers who suffered damages due to Hurricane Irma. Florida Farm Bureau has offered a dedicated webpage as a resource to farmers and ranchers who can take advantage of this opportunity at www.FloridaFarmBureau.org/hurricanetaxrebate. On March 23, Governor Rick Scott signed a sales tax …
Three years, 114 hearings, six listening sessions and countless industry meetings have laid the groundwork for the 2018 farm bill. The House Agriculture Committee delivered what it calls a strong farm bill for producers, consumers and all of rural America. After introducing the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 (H.R. 2) during a teleconference, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Michael Conaway …
The damage that Hurricane Irma inflicted on citrus nurseries and citrus groves in September caused long delays in tree deliveries to growers, says Phil Rucks, owner of Phillip Rucks Citrus Nursery in Frostproof. Rucks says 59 of the state’s 77 citrus nurseries sustained some degree of damage in the hurricane. Much of the nursery damage wasn’t repaired for half-a-year as …
Gov. Rick Scott is asking U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to move quickly to get disaster-relief funding into the hands of Florida citrus growers, as it may be another three months before farmers can start to apply for the money. In a letter Tuesday, Scott also asked Perdue to “customize federal aid for Florida citrus growers” to meet their needs. …
Most growers and professionals in the citrus industry are aware that Florida’s orange crop has declined due to diseases like citrus greening and natural disasters like Hurricane Irma. However, Florida’s grapefruit crop has been suffering tremendously as well, even more severely than Florida oranges. The Florida orange crop has dropped by 35 percent this year, while Florida grapefruit has dropped …
By Michael W. Sparks Florida Citrus Mutual, the citrus industry and our Congressional delegation continue to work with Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam on obtaining federal relief payments from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for citrus groves damaged by Hurricane Irma. Once specifics are unveiled, we will get them to you as soon as possible. In the meantime, I wanted …
Ricardo Martinez Zambrano, director of sales for North America with Citrofrut, summarizes a Mexican citrus industry report he delivered at the recent International Citrus Business Conference. Zambrano says oranges account for about 56 percent of Mexico’s total citrus production, but “there is no official source in Mexico that does the estimation.” An area of eastern Mexico has about 80 percent …
The 2017-2018 Florida all-orange forecast released on April 10 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is 45 million boxes, unchanged from the March forecast. The total includes 19 million boxes of non-Valencia oranges and 26 million boxes of Valencia oranges. The Row Count survey, conducted March 27-28, showed 99 percent of the early-midseason rows …
University of Florida (UF) citrus breeder Fred Gmitter recalls meeting Vero Beach grower Tom Hammond about 20 years ago, when Gmitter needed a place to grow hybrid citrus. Gmitter knew most growers wouldn’t experiment with “raw materials” – plant offspring used to identify that possible one in 5,000 winner. Growers rarely make a profit from such experiments. Hammond took a …
A single breakthrough discovery for managing citrus greening in Florida in the future is unlikely, says a new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The committee that wrote the report called for a systems approach to prioritize research on the disease and strategically distribute resources for research to effectively manage the disease, which is the most …
Coldwell Banker Commercial Saunders Real Estate (CBCSRE) reported 146 verified citrus grove sales in Florida in 2017. The sales were listed, without seller or buyer names, in CBCSRE’s annual Lay of the Land Market Report distributed at the April 5-6 Land Conference at ChampionsGate near Orlando. The company reported that 109 of the sold groves stayed in citrus and 37 …
The Georgia Department of Agriculture is working to promote the ever-growing Georgia citrus industry. Matthew Kulinski, deputy director of marketing for the Georgia Department of Agriculture, led a presentation at the Georgia Citrus Association Conference to inform growers that the department’s marketing division can help them. As the Georgia citrus industry expands, it is important for growers to know how …
By Ramdas Kanissery, Brent Sellers and Steve Futch Weed control is a major component of Florida citrus grove management. A warm, humid climate and frequent rainfall provide a conducive environment for prolific weed emergence and growth in citrus groves. Although there are several pre- and post-emergent herbicide products available for managing a diversity of citrus weeds, there is always an …
