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Georgia’s young, burgeoning citrus industry celebrated a win on April 18. Surrounded by specialty crop industry leaders, state representatives and a throng of interested parties, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation to establish a state commodity commission for citrus. The signing took place at the Bainbridge campus of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. “In 2013, Georgia had 4,500 citrus trees. In …
Colorado State University (CSU) hurricane researchers are predicting a slightly below-average Atlantic hurricane season in 2023, citing the likely development of El Niño as a primary factor. The CSU Tropical Meteorology Project team is predicting 13 named storms during the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30. Of those, researchers expect six to become hurricanes and …
Hurricane recovery assistance was top of mind when citrus growers met with U.S. Sen. Rick Scott and U.S. Rep. Scott Franklin April 11 in Highlands County. “The primary topic of conversation during the roundtable was encouraging Sen. Scott and Congressman Franklin to do everything in their power to get the Block Grant Assistance Act passed through Congress as quickly as …
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA NASS) released its latest citrus crop forecast on April 11. Florida’s grapefruit crop forecast for 2022–23 rose 6%. Projected production for the state’s other citrus varieties was unchanged. FLORIDA GRAPEFRUITThe all-grapefruit forecast for Florida is now 1.7 million boxes, up from 1.6 million boxes in March. Florida’s red grapefruit forecast …
The Florida 2022–23 all-orange forecast inched up 1% in March to 16.1 million boxes while the grapefruit forecast rose 7% to 1.6 million boxes. The U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA NASS) forecast for Florida tangerines and tangelos was unchanged at 500,000 boxes. The entire rise of 100,000 boxes in the orange forecast was in the …
February’s federal citrus forecast trimmed another 2 million boxes from Florida’s projected orange crop, dropping expected 2022–23 production to 16 million boxes. That’s an 11% drop from what had already been projected to be a historically low orange crop. The forecast was issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA NASS). If the Florida orange forecast …
Florida citrus crops, already at historically low levels, were forecast Jan. 12 to fall even lower. The all-orange forecast fell 10% from the December projection. The grapefruit and tangerine/tangelo forecasts both tumbled 17%. The forecast was issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA NASS). If realized, the orange, grapefruit and tangerine/tangelo crops will be 56%, …
By Lorenzo Rossi With no cure for HLB available, searching for alternative mitigation strategies is an urgent priority for a sustainable citrus industry. Interest has grown regarding the use of organic amendments to improve the fertility of Florida native soils. Although hardwood mulch applications have been demonstrated to improve both tree health and soil fertility in other fruit industries, little …
The second 2022–23 orange crop forecast update for the São Paulo and West-Southwest Minas Gerais citrus belt, published on Dec. 12 by Fundecitrus and its cooperators, is 314.11 million boxes of 40.8 kilograms each. This update indicates that the crop remains within expectations in relation to the projected forecast in September, with an increase of only 20 thousand boxes, which …
The first federal citrus crop forecast to take into account damage from September’s Hurricane Ian dropped Florida’s projected orange crop for 2022–23 to 20 million boxes. That’s 29% below the initial forecast of 28 million boxes in October, 51% less than last season’s final production of 41.05 million boxes and the lowest orange forecast in many decades. Florida’s non-Valencia and …
The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) recently received a large grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). Michael Rogers provides details of the $16.5 million grant during the November All In For Citrus podcast. Rogers is the director of the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake …
Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) has announced the development of a new product made from not-from-concentrate (NFC) orange juice that offers a 30% reduction in natural sugar content. The new product has more than triple the dietary fiber content while preserving original taste (Brix value) and vitamin C level, the company stated. The product is the result of a five-year effort …
Purdue University’s Kurt Ristroph has received a $1 million federal grant to develop nanocarriers as an antibiotic delivery system to help plants fend off citrus greening disease, also known as HLB. The grant is part of the 21.7 million recently awarded for HLB research from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. “The mixing technology we’re …
If cold-hardy citrus growers diversified their crops and not put all of their eggs in the satsuma basket, it would provide them a better chance at long-term sustainability. It would allow producers an opportunity to combat the negative national stigma concerning citrus juices, says Jude Grosser, a professor of plant cell genetics at the University of Florida Institute of Food …
By Brenda Eubanks Burnette It’s hard to imagine how the early pioneers managed to grow, pick, pack and ship their fruit without the technological means we have today. In doing various oral history interviews this year, that point was really brought home to me. One grower recalled how irrigating his family’s grove meant moving the actual water pipes manually from …
Need the latest nutrient recommendations for growing citrus in Florida? Find updates for nutrient best management practices in the December issue of Citrus Industry magazine. The article, by Kelly Morgan, Davie Kadyampakeni and Tripti Vashisth, details recently approved recommendations for secondary macronutrients and micronutrients. The new advice is based on University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) …
An ongoing study in coastal Southern California citrus groves has found that just over 3.5% of Asian citrus psyllids (ACP) tested are carrying the bacterium that can cause HLB. ACP is the insect vector of HLB. Thus far, 138 of 3,000 adult ACP collected from 15 commercial citrus sites had some level of the bacterium present. The results were reported …
The numbers are expected to further decline, as the season’s initial forecast does not reflect Hurricane Ian damage. The annual gathering of Florida citrus industry members to hear the first crop forecast of the season looked a little different this year. While growers once again came together at Putnam Ranch in Zolfo Springs to listen to the U.S. Department of …
Agriculture students at four Florida colleges and universities can apply for Florida Fertilizer & Agrichemical Association (FFAA) Ag Scholarships by Sept. 9. The schools are Florida A&M University (FAMU), Florida Southern College (FSC), University of Florida (UF) and Warner University. The FFAA Scholarship Fund offers scholarships to qualified upper-level university and college students in agriculture or a very closely-related major. The scholarships are …
In the quest for better fruit retention in HLB-infected citrus, there has been a good deal of attention placed on the use of plant growth regulators to fight fruit drop. Gibberellic acid (GA) has been the focus of new research in recent years to establish refined timing of applications to optimize results in Florida citrus. Much of that research has …
