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Florida Citrus Packers honored Douglas C. Bournique with its John T. Lesley Award for Excellence at Packinghouse Day on Aug. 23. The award is the organization’s highest recognition, reserved for individuals making sustained and outstanding contributions to Florida’s fresh citrus industry. The list of recipients reads like a “who’s who” of the Florida citrus industry. Bournique brought his talents and …
By Len Wilcox The labels that citrus packinghouses formerly placed on their shipping crates have a long and colorful history. These vibrant labels — usually square, depicting a beautiful farm, pretty lady or perhaps some impossibly perfect oranges — have become art objects and unique representations of their time and place in history. LOCATIONS OF COLLECTIONS In Florida, that history …
By Aaron Himrod Although there is a current lack of true resistance to HLB, making appropriate variety choices does have a significant impact on grove performance and profitability. Compromises among the various factors will have to be made. Take note of the most limiting factors in your grove and make your selection with these in mind. HLB exacerbates stresses that …
By Nate Jameson The decision-making process for choosing a scion/rootstock combination involves multiple factors. The process starts by answering the following questions: Question 1: New planting or resetting? If the block is being reset, is still profitable and will stay in production for several years, then I suggest the grower stay with the existing combination currently planted. If the block …
By Ernie Neff For Phil Rucks and Tom Powers at Phillip Rucks Citrus Nursery in Frostproof, Florida, selecting rootstock and scion combinations starts by acknowledging that some varieties just don’t do well with HLB. “We don’t recommend some varieties regardless of rootstock,” Rucks says. Powers says varieties that are especially difficult to grow with HLB are Hamlin, midsweet and pineapple …
Congratulations to citrus grower Jimmy Carter of JK Carter Groves in Lake Wales, Florida, the winner of the John Deere gun safe giveaway at Citrus Expo 2018! This popular Citrus Expo annual giveaway is a tradition made possible by sponsorship from Everglades Equipment Group. All growers who pre-register for Citrus Expo are eligible for the drawing. Megan Price, Miss Florida …
By Fred Gmitter, Ed Stover, Randy Driggers, Greg McCollum and Jude Grosser The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service citrus breeding program has a long history of releasing successful scion and rootstock cultivars. There had been a 15-year lapse in creating new hybrids, and the recently released cultivars largely reflect breeding efforts that preceded the onslaught of HLB …
With more education, more exhibits and more diversity, growers won’t want to miss Citrus Expo 2018! Florida’s premier agricultural event for citrus, vegetable and specialty crop growers takes place Aug. 15–16 at the Lee Civic Center in North Fort Myers, Florida. Time is running out to pre-register for the event. Online pre-registration ends Friday, Aug. 10. Pre-registration helps save time …
Florida citrus growers recognize the Sugar Belle® mandarin hybrid for its tolerance of citrus greening disease, and new findings from the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) suggest that rootstock selection may play a role in keeping Sugar Belle® trees productive even if they become infected with the bacterial malady. “We now have proof of concept …
By Fred Gmitter, Bill Castle and Jude Grosser King Solomon once pointed out that “there is nothing new under the sun,” meaning that what has happened before will happen again. Although the idea of growing lemons in Florida is viewed by some these days as a new thing, Florida actually has a fairly long history of lemon production. FLORIDA LEMON …
A Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientist at Weslaco will lead a consortium of researchers in major citrus-producing regions to conduct high-throughput screening in discovering antimicrobials that could prevent citrus greening. Citrus greening, also known as huanglongbing (HLB) disease, has devastated citrus fruit crops in Florida and has made its way to Texas and California. The research grant of approximately $1.2 …
By Marcos Fava Neves The season’s first orange crop forecast is one of the most important numbers of the year for Brazil’s orange juice business. The citrus forecast for 2018–19 was published on May 9 by Fundecitrus, in cooperation with Markestrat, University of São Paulo and São Paulo State University. SIZE AND VARIETIES Brazil expects 288.29 million boxes of oranges …
Moderate spacing and medium tree size could be the quickest way Florida growers can return to producing 100 million boxes of oranges per year. By Pete Spyke, Bill Castle and Ed Stover The Florida Department of Citrus (FDOC) recently released the results of a study originally titled “Restoring Florida’s Commercial Orange Tree Inventory: Economic Impacts of APS vs. Traditional Plantings.” …
By Brenda Eubanks Burnette I was in Fort Pierce recently doing interviews for an oral history project and ran across some interesting photos and information on O.C. Minton, who was inducted into the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame in 1982. A hard worker who was totally dedicated to the Florida citrus industry, Minton’s defining moments came when fighting for identification …
At the center of the August issue of Citrus Industry magazine is the Citrus Expo show guide. Readers will find everything they need to know about Florida’s leading agricultural event. This year, Citrus Expo is expanding its reach to include vegetable and specialty crop growers. The Citrus Expo seminar and trade show is August 15–16 at the Lee Civic Center …
By Len Wilcox Researchers with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) believe that an effective measure has been found that will reduce the risk of spreading huanglongbing (HLB) disease between orchards. The control measure is a fogging system with a carrier and a pesticide that effectively destroys disease-bearing insects before they can leave the orchard and do further harm. NO …
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced that agricultural producers affected by hurricanes and wildfires in 2017 now may apply for assistance to help recover and rebuild their farming operations. Signup begins July 16, 2018, and continues through November 16, 2018. “Hurricanes and wildfires caused billions of dollars in losses to America’s farmers last year. Our objective is to get relief funds …
By Marshall Hartley At Florida Southern College, I remember doing an experiment using a large washtub with holes in the bottom. We filled the tub with very dry sand and then poured 1 inch of water over the sand and let it soak in. The water did not travel through the sand evenly. Instead, the water would find one area …
Steven M. “Steve” Smith has been named executive vice president/general manager of the Gulf Citrus Growers Association (GCGA). He will begin his employment at GCGA on Aug. 1, 2018. Smith previously was employed by Alico, Inc., Babcock Ranch Management and the Peace River Valley Citrus Growers Association, where he served as executive director. Smith is a graduate of the University …
The 2017-2018 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Florida citrus forecast for July is unchanged from June. The all-orange forecast remains at 45 million boxes. The total is comprised of 19 million boxes of non-Valencia oranges (early, midseason, and Navel varieties) and 26 million boxes of Valencia oranges. All-Florida grapefruit production is unchanged at 3.88 million boxes. Of the total grapefruit …
