florida citrus

Florida Sees Dips in Orange and Grapefruit Forecasts

Daniel Cooper Crop Forecast

The 2019–20 Florida all-orange forecast released on April 9 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture is 70 million boxes, down 1 million boxes from the March forecast. This represents a 1 percent decrease in the expected orange crop size. Non-Valencia Oranges The forecast for Florida non-Valencia orange production is unchanged at 30 million boxes. The non-Valencia harvest is about over …

CDFA’s Year in Review

Len Wilcox California Corner, Pests

The mission of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is to promote and protect the food supply, enhance trade and protect the environment. The agency annually provides information on the steps it takes to fulfill its mission goals. In such a diverse and highly populated state, the challenges are great. Much of the growing regions are geographic islands …

Food-Safety Marathon: Keeping Up With the Produce Safety Rule

Tacy Callies Food Safety

By Travis Chapin, Matt Krug and Michelle Danyluk It’s been four years since the final Produce Safety Rule (PSR) was published in the Federal Register. The further we get into implementation of the PSR, the more it really seems like a marathon and not a sprint. By January 2020, all operations covered under the PSR should be complying with applicable …

nutrition

Bayer-CRDF HLB Effort Updated

Ernie Neff CRDF, HLB Management

The Citrus Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) in 2017 agreed to partner with Bayer Crop Science for three years in an effort to develop new technologies to combat HLB. On Dec. 3, a Bayer representative provided a progress update to the CRDF board of directors. CRDF Chief Operating Officer Rick Dantzler discusses the history and possible future of the endeavor. …

reintroducing

Reintroducing White Grapefruit to the U.S. Market

Daniel Cooper Grapefruit, Industry News Release

(IMG) — IMG Citrus, a family-owned, vertically integrated citrus grower, packer and shipper in Vero Beach, Florida, is reintroducing white grapefruit to the U.S. market. Most white grapefruit is exported directly from the United States to its primary market in Japan, where it maintains consistently high popularity. However, IMG Citrus will be expanding its white grapefruit consumer base to the …

florida

Orange Production Up Slightly From June Forecast

Daniel Cooper Citrus, Crop Forecast, Grapefruit

ORANGESThe 2018–2019 Florida all-orange forecast released by Mark Hudson of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is now 71.6 million boxes. The total is comprised of 30.4 million boxes of non-Valencia oranges (early, mid-season and Navel varieties), unchanged from the June forecast, and 41.2 million boxes of Valencia oranges, up 200,000 boxes from last month. California non-Valencia oranges remained at …

nutrition

Value of HLB Research Conference

Ernie Neff CRDF, HLB Management

Rick Dantzler, chief operating officer of the Citrus Research and Development Foundation in Florida, discusses the importance of the recent International Research Conference on HLB, held in California. “I think there’s real merit in the industry, nationally and internationally, getting together occasionally to talk about what’s going on in their home states and their home countries,” Dantzler says. He notes …

acp

ACP Found in Sacramento

Len Wilcox California Corner, Citrus Greening, HLB Management

The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), working in cooperation with the Sacramento County agricultural commissioner, has placed Sacramento County under a plant pest quarantine for the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) following the detection of one ACP in Sacramento’s Lemon Hill area.  The quarantine prohibits the movement of citrus and curry leaf tree nursery stock and all plant parts, …

acp

Researching Scouting Strategies for ACP

Daniel Cooper Citrus, Psyllids

Several research projects continue at University of California Riverside to evaluate strategies for better detection of Asian citrus psyllid (ACP). Monique Rivera, assistant cooperative Extension specialist, is looking into something referred to as the ‘edge effect’ and how it pertains to ACP control. “The ‘edge effect’ is basically an ecological term that we’re using in the context of Asian citrus …

chemicals

Automated System Under Study to Deliver Bactericides

Daniel Cooper Citrus Greening, Industry News Release, Research

Imagine using a robotic arm to grip and puncture the trunk of a citrus tree to deliver chemicals into the vascular parts of the plant, reducing its susceptibility to the citrus greening disease. Ozgur Batuman, an assistant professor of plant pathology at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), leads a team of researchers trying to …

podcast

Rogers on HLB Research and Education

Ernie Neff HLB Management

Michael Rogers, director of the Citrus Research and Education Center, discusses HLB research and education programs being conducted by the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS). “The goal of our IFAS citrus program continues to be to provide growers with the most up-to-date information that they can use to help maintain or increase the production of …

Researchers to Study New HLB Treatment Method

Len Wilcox California Corner

University of California (UC) Davis research scientist Louise Ferguson is taking part in a $3.4 million project titled “Development of an automated delivery system for therapeutic materials to treat HLB-infected citrus.” The study is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The four-year project includes work by researchers at the University of Florida, UC …

Taking Technology to the Grove

Tacy Callies CUPS, Technology

By Ernie Neff Jerry Mixon’s use of netting to keep birds from blueberries helped pique his interest in growing citrus under protective screen (CUPS) to exclude HLB-spreading psyllids. But he credits University of Florida researcher Arnold Schumann with helping him bring his Polk County CUPS project to fruition. Mixon met Schumann in 2015, the year after Schumann’s 1-acre CUPS was …

fungus

Visalia ACP Find Was a Breeding Population

Len Wilcox California Corner

The Asian citrus psyllids (ACP) found last week in a residential area in north Visalia, California, were a breeding population, according to Greg Douhan, University of California Cooperative Extension farm advisor for citrus. The ACP were found in four locations in the city, not in close proximity to any agricultural operations. “Most of the findings found in the San Joaquin Valley …

psyllid

Attract-and-Kill Device Being Developed for Psyllids

Ernie Neff Psyllids

Numerous researchers have collaborated on an attract-and-kill device that will hopefully eliminate psyllids in confined spaces, such as nurseries and citrus under protective screen (CUPS). University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) entomologist Lukasz Stelinski reports on a presentation he made Oct. 25 at a citrus nursery workshop in Lake Alfred. Stelinski says researchers with UF/IFAS and …

PIECES OF THE PAST: Juice Trains Roll On

Tacy Callies Pieces of the Past

By Brenda Eubanks Burnette Anthony T. Rossi, founder of Tropicana, immigrated to New York with the dream of making movies, but ended up in the grocery business for 13 years before heading to Florida in search of warmer weather. Using the skills he’d developed in the grocery business, he began packing gift fruit boxes for Macy’s and Gimbel’s, and jars …

A Grower’s Perspective on Marketing Lemons in Florida

Tacy Callies lemons

Interest in lemon production is increasing among Florida’s citrus producers. This was evident by the strong turnout of growers who attended a lemon workshop at the Citrus Research and Education Center on Sept. 11. Approximately 80 growers and industry members attended the event, hosted by University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Polk County Extension. George Hamner Jr., …

Black Discusses HLB Research Meeting

Ernie Neff HLB Management

Larry Black, president of Florida’s Citrus Research and Development Foundation (CRDF), attended a recent meeting in Fort Pierce to discuss HLB research prioritization and funding. He joined officials with other agencies that fund HLB, including California’s Citrus Research Board (CRB) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Black says the agencies met “to look at ways we can be more …

hlb

Schulz on HLB Research Funding Session

Ernie Neff HLB Management

Gary Schulz, president of the Citrus Research Board in California, discusses a recent meeting of agencies that fund HLB research. Representatives of Florida’s Citrus Research and Development Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture also attended the two-day session in Fort Pierce, Florida. According to Schulz, the National Academy of Sciences within the past year recommended “that funding agencies for …