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Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Legislative”
Florida Citrus Mutual President John Barben summarized Mutual’s efforts at the state and federal levels during the recent Highlands County Citrus Growers Association annual meeting in Sebring. “We talked a little bit about going after our (state legislative) funding for this year – for CRDF (Citrus Research and Development Foundation), for New Varieties (Development and Management Corp.) – trying to …
On February 21, leaders of three key Florida citrus organizations acquainted the Florida Senate’s Agriculture Committee with the issues facing the citrus industry. They summarize their presentations: “It’s not a pretty picture,” says Florida Citrus Mutual CEO Mike Sparks. He describes the huge production losses and increased costs that HLB disease has created. “Right now our whole future revolves around …
Research is looking at what we can learn from the Asian citrus psyllid’s (ACP) history, specifically ACP movement throughout Southern California. Psyllid finds in Central California are mimicking the insect’s history of spread. University of California, Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources held it’s California Asian Citrus Psyllid and Huanglongbing Research and Extension Summit at UC Riverside. The summit was …
U.S. House Gives Citrus Tax Incentive Overwhelming Bipartisan Support The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a measure Wednesday that provides growers with an incentive to plant more trees and bolster the ailing Florida citrus industry. By a 400-20 vote, Republicans and Democrats approved the Emergency Citrus Disease Response Act which allows growers to immediately expense the cost of planting …
Florida Citrus Mutual on Wednesday applauded the House Ways and Means Committee for passing a measure that would provide growers with an incentive to plant more trees and bolster the ailing Florida citrus industry. Sponsored Content5 Facts About Fire Ants and How to Control ThemApril 18, 2024BRAZILIAN RESEARCH RESULTS IN A UNIQUE PRODUCT FOR HLB MANAGEMENTApril 1, 2024Protect Your Groves …
Mike Sparks, executive vice president/CEO of Florida Citrus Mutual, issued the following report: “As you know, a big part of Mutual’s mission over the past three years was to try and uncover, create and support grower incentive programs to get more trees in the ground and rebuild our industry. Through the hard work of Commissioner Adam Putnam and his staff …
On July 21, 2016, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) visited the Lakeland area to tour a citrus grove affected by citrus greening. Sen. Rubio was joined by Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam. They visited Gapway Groves in Auburndale to meet growers and industry leaders to discuss the grave problem facing Florida’s citrus industry. Rubio and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) …
As an agricultural employer, you face many business challenges and you must comply with a number of employment-related laws every day, especially if you work with labor-intensive crops. Ensuring that your employment policies and pay practices comply with the law not only helps you avoid liability for potential labor violations, but keeps your workforce productive and motivated. Simply stated, complying …
On this week’s Commissioner’s Spotlight, Florida’s Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam talks about the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program and the partnership between the state and private agricultural operations to protect Florida’s natural resources while allowing Ag operations to continue. Sponsored Content5 Facts About Fire Ants and How to Control ThemApril 18, 2024BRAZILIAN RESEARCH RESULTS …
Mark Hudson of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agriculture Statistics Service in Washington, D.C., issued the June citrus crop forecast. The 2015-2016 Florida all-orange forecast released is raised to 81.4 million boxes. The total includes 36.1 million boxes of non-Valencia oranges (early, mid-season, Navel and Temple varieties) and 45.3 million boxes of Valencia oranges. For the previous nine …
Florida Citrus Mutual CEO Mike Sparks discusses the association’s annual conference this week, including the election of a new association president, the U.S. presidential race from a tariff perspective, and postbloom fruit drop (PFD). During the conference, Mutual’s trade attorney reported on presidential candidates’ views regarding tariffs, which can impact citrus trade. Sparks comments on that report: “When you hear …
The St. Johns River Water Management District’s governing board has continued to work with Indian River County on establishing water farms on expired citrus land. Water farming is a method being used to help reduce nitrogen and phosphorus being dumped into the Indian River Lagoon. Doug Bournique, executive director of the Indian River Citrus League, provided an update on the progress …
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ (FDACS) Office of Agricultural Water Policy has released a statement that pertains to producers within certain districts who are willing to purchase equipment and be honored up to a 75 percent reimbursement on the equipment invoice. The funds are being administered through Marion County and Putnam County soil and water conservation districts. …
By Jim Turner THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA The Capital, Tallahassee – Florida citrus growers could save more than $11 million in taxes they pay on boxes of oranges and grapefruit under a proposed Florida Department of Citrus (FDOC) budget that would trim jobs to meet the demands of a troubled industry. The department, which would see its staff shrink from 39 …
Over the years Fresh from Florida has become a staple to Florida’s agriculture. We caught up with Mike Joyner, assistant commissioner and chief of staff for Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, to talk about Fresh from Florida and some of the advantages that it has for producers in Florida along with successes that they are seeing from the …
Pre-applications for the emergency Citrus Disease Research and Extension (CDRE) grants are available for fiscal year 2016. The estimated total program funding is $22 million, as a part of the third installment of the $125 million appropriated in the 2014 Farm Bill. To find a detailed summary of CDRE project eligibility criteria and application instructions, visit nifa.usda.gov and search “CDRE …
The funding was made available through the Specialty Crop Research Initiative Citrus Disease Research and Extension Program, which was appropriated by the $125 million dollars allocated from the 2014 Farm Bill and administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The $22 million dollars will be used for a variety of citrus greening-related channels, …
The Florida Citrus Commission discussed on Wednesday proposals for heavy cuts to the Florida Department of Citrus budget next season. Commission Chairman Ellis Hunt and department Executive Director Shannon Shepp discuss the projected budget for next year, the funding for it, personnel cuts and how the budget will proceed. Twelve large growers and several organizations recently requested drastic Sponsored Content5 …
We spoke with Harold Browning, chief operations officer of the Citrus Research and Development Foundation (CRDF), about some of the important topics that were discussed at the CRDF April board meeting yesterday and how the foundation plans on working with growers this upcoming season. The next CRDF meeting will be held in June to approve the annual budget. Sponsored Content5 …
