Citrus Work Still Moving Forward at University of Florida

Daniel CooperIndustry News Release

While the scenery may have changed, the work remains the same for the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) citrus faculty and Extension agents. “The coronavirus pandemic has altered the daily routine but not our mission to provide research and educational service to the citrus industry,” said Michael Rogers, director of the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and …

Reactions Vary on China Citrus Imports

Ernie NeffFresh

Representatives of the California and Florida fresh citrus industries had distinctly different reactions to the announcement that some fresh citrus from China can now be imported into the United States. California Citrus Mutual President Casey Creamer said, “We don’t anticipate any major disruptions in our fresh markets. It is not anticipated that much volume will come to the U.S.” But …

china

USDA Allows Importation of Fresh Citrus From China

Daniel CooperExport/Import, Industry News Release

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is authorizing the importation of five types of commercially produced fresh citrus fruit from China into the continental United States. After thorough analysis, APHIS scientists determined that pummelo, Nanfeng honey mandarin, ponkan, sweet orange and Satsuma mandarin fruit from China can be safely imported into the United States …

china

U.S. Citrus Supply and Prices

Tacy CalliesCrop Forecast, Economics

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (ERS) released a Fruit and Tree Nuts Outlook report on March 31. The report shows that the forecast for the U.S. citrus crop is down 4 percent from last season and how this is affecting imports, exports and pricing. LOWER PRODUCTIONU.S. all-orange production is expected to decrease by 1.6 percent, largely due …

Georgia Citrus Grower: It’ll Be Years Before Market Gets Saturated

Tacy CalliesGeorgia

By Clint Thompson Georgia grower Joe Franklin believes the citrus market will stay profitable despite industry leaders expecting the state’s citrus acreage to double by the end of this year. SALES OUTLETS“The school systems are a good outlet for us,” Franklin said. “I was in Atlanta (recently). I’ve never seen so many people in my life. It’s like that in …

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Some Scions Incompatible With US-1283 Rootstock

Daniel CooperIndustry News Release, Rootstocks

By Kim D. Bowman and Ute Albrecht The US-1283 rootstock was released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 2014, based on field performance with Hamlin 1-4-1 sweet orange in trials at two different locations in Florida severely affected by huanglongbing disease. One of these trials was in St. Lucie County and of 14 years duration, while the second …

Citrus Leprosis Poses a Threat to Florida

Tacy CalliesDiseases

By Amit Levy, Ozgur Batuman, Peggy Sieburth and Lauren Diepenbrock Citrus leprosis is an exotic viral disease not currently present in Florida. This disease is of interest since it was reported in citrus in Florida and Brazil in the early 1900s, where it caused great crop and tree losses, but it was eliminated from Florida in the early 1960s. Currently, …

Georgia Citrus Association to Host Annual Conference

Tacy CalliesGeorgia

By Clint Thompson Georgia growers interested in adding citrus to their farming operation are invited to the fourth annual Georgia Citrus Association Conference on Monday, Feb. 24, at the University of Georgia (UGA) Tifton Campus Conference Center. Scientists from UGA and the University of Florida, as well as producers who are already growing citrus trees, will be in attendance to …

CUPS: Managing Small Fruit Size

Ernie NeffCUPS

Fresh fruit has generally grown well in a citrus under protective screen (CUPS) facility at the Citrus Research and Education Center, but there has been an issue with small fruit size. Laura Waldo, a senior biological scientist who works with lead CUPS researcher Arnold Schumann, discusses the problem and likely solutions.  Waldo says causes of the smaller fruit size have …

New Varieties and Juice Blends Discussed

Ernie NeffVarieties

Growers recently sampled and graded new fruit varieties, as well as some juice blends, at University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) fruit display events. UF/IFAS plant breeder Jude Grosser commented on the fruit varieties and juice following a sampling event at the Citrus Research and Education Center. “It’s kind of neat because when we first started …

Niche Market and Dooryard Citrus for the HLB World

Tacy CalliesVarieties

By Jude Grosser, Manjul Dutt and Fred Gmitter The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) citrus improvement team at the Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC) has developed a broad citrus germplasm base. This provides opportunities to generate diverse, interesting and possibly lucrative selections with niche market and dooryard potential. Several such selections are showing reasonable …

Fresh Fruit Is ‘All About the Box’

Ernie NeffFresh

Polk County grower Ed Dickinson has good things to say about some orange-mandarin juice and fresh mandarins he sampled at the Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC) in November. Dickinson was one of dozens who tried new University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) samples. He and others who scored the juice and fruit will help researchers …

CUPS Featured at Field Day

Ernie NeffCUPS

Growers already producing fresh citrus under protective screen (CUPS) were among approximately 30 attendees at a CUPS field day Dec. 12 at the Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred, Florida. Lead CUPS scientist Arnold Schumann with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and other researchers described activities in the screened-in facility. Attendees saw much …

Sneak Peek: December 2019 Citrus Industry Magazine

Tacy CalliesSneak Peek

As the year races to a finish, growers will want to make sure they are up to date on the “food-safety marathon” described in the December issue of Citrus Industry magazine. The University of Florida’s (UF) Travis Chapin, Matt Krug and Michelle Danyluk discuss what growers need to know about the implementation of the Produce Safety Rule. Topics addressed include …

georgia citrus

Georgia Introduces New Satsuma Brand

Daniel CooperCitrus, Georgia, Industry News Release

(GDA) — Just in time for the holidays, shoppers can now add the Georgia citrus brand, Besties™ to their grocery lists. This month more than 1 million pounds of Georgia Grown satsuma mandarin oranges are going to market in major retailers, including Publix, Kroger, Walmart and Whole Foods. “Georgia has a great history of branding agricultural commodities into household names,” …

citrus

Sample the Latest Citrus From UF/IFAS

Daniel CooperIndustry News Release

(UF/IFAS) — As citrus growers, packers, processors, gift-fruit shippers and others taste, feel and smell the latest varieties from the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), they hope their taste buds explode with flavor and that a fresh aroma fills the room at the Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC). These participants will get two more …

citrus

All In For Citrus Podcast, October 2019

Taylor HillmanAll In For Citrus Podcast

October’s All In For Citrus podcast includes something new — a California guest! First, events providing growers with starter nutrition sampling kits went so well this month that an extra event has been added for next month, reports Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC) Director Michael Rogers. Another well-attended event that he discusses was the CREC Plant Improvement Team’s first …

Putting Fresh Fruit to the Test

Tacy CalliesFresh, fruit

Quality and shelf life were evaluated for new fresh mandarin and sweet orange selections. By Mark A. Ritenour, Cuifeng Hu, Yu Wang and Fernando Alferez New fresh citrus fruit selections continue to be developed and released by the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In addition, promising new varieties are …

grapefruit

Grapefruit and Marathon Discussed

Ernie NeffAll In For Citrus Podcast, Grapefruit

University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) plant breeder Fred Gmitter discusses efforts to create a replacement for grapefruit. He also talks about the recently released mandarin variety, Marathon. Gmitter points out that grapefruit is “one of the most sensitive of all the citrus varieties” to HLB dusease and has “taken the greatest hit” in terms of …