Last week, members of the AgNet Media team had the opportunity to visit the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) to meet with some of the area’s key players. During the three-day tour, the team explored various agricultural operations, including Southern Gardens Citrus. The Southern Gardens Citrus visit began with a tour of Devil’s Garden Grove, led by grove manager Luke Davis. …
PIECES OF THE PAST: A Sentimental Journey to Winter Park
By Brenda Eubanks Burnette This year’s Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival poster featured a look reminiscent of the old citrus crate labels. The artist, Florida native Don Dewitt, noted the poster was also a “nod” to the Winter Park Farmers’ Market located by the old train depot on New England Avenue. The depot was built in 1926 when Winter Park …
Perdue to Rooney: Expect Citrus Disaster Relief Plan Next Week
On April 18, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced that the details of the $2.3 billion disaster relief program for Florida citrus growers impacted by Hurricane Irma will be finalized by next week. Congressman Thomas J. Rooney (R-FL), who spearheaded the relief effort, issued the following statement in response: “Today, Secretary Perdue reassured Florida citrus producers that he is working to make sure that disaster relief is made …
Managing Mites in Florida Citrus
By Lukasz L. Stelinski, Jawwad A. Qureshi and Philip A. Stansly Florida citrus is host to four main groups of mites categorized by differences in lineage and morphology. However, only rust mites, spider mites and broad mites historically cause economic damage to commercially grown citrus in the state. The fourth group, referred to as false spider mites, are vectors elsewhere …
Tree Assistance Program Tweaked to Help Citrus Growers
By Michael W. Sparks Florida Citrus Mutual, the citrus industry and our Congressional delegation continue to work with Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam on obtaining federal relief payments from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for citrus groves damaged by Hurricane Irma. Once specifics are unveiled, we will get them to you as soon as possible. In the meantime, I wanted …
PIECES OF THE PAST: Welcome to Waverly
By Brenda Eubanks Burnette I was driving from Winter Haven to Palm Beach Gardens recently, taking the “back” way on Waverly Road. Once called Kissimmee Road, it was originally used to get from Florida’s west coast to the Kissimmee River. As I drove by the old office, packinghouse and welcome house of Waverly Growers Cooperative, I remembered what a beautiful …
Miss Florida Citrus and Miss Winter Haven Crowned
St. Patrick’s Day was lucky for two young women — Megan Price, of LaBelle, who was crowned the new 2018 Miss Florida Citrus and Morgan Boykin, of Thonotosassa, the new Miss Winter Haven. Both ladies were crowned at Theatre Winter Haven on March 17, 2018. Hosted by David Lang, of Regalia Magnificent Apparel, the Miss America preliminary pageant contestants were judged …
Hall of Famer Kahn: HLB Will Be Overcome
Sebring grower and grove manager Marvin Kahn, one of two inducted into the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame on March 9, says the industry will survive greening disease, or HLB. “I’m sure that we’ve got a real handicap now with this greening disease,” Kahn says. And no doubt we could have other diseases even following it. But with a real …
PIECES OF THE PAST: Now Hold On Just a Minute!
By Brenda Eubanks Burnette I recently came across a postcard in my collection that featured the Orlando headquarters of the Minute Maid Corporation, which made me curious about how the company started. The back of the postcard reads: “National Headquarters of Minute Maid Corporation in Orlando, Fla. Located near the heart of Florida’s rolling citrus grove country, at the intersection …
OJ May Soon Come from HLB-Tolerant Fruit
Some people like to wake up and drink a glass of fresh Florida orange juice. With the greening disease ravaging Florida’s citrus industry, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) researchers want to make orange juice from disease-tolerant fruit. Huanglongbing (HLB), or citrus greening as it’s commonly called, has destroyed 80 percent of citrus in Florida, a …
Call Now for Florida Agriculture Relief Legislation
By Mike Sparks, Florida Citrus Mutual executive vice president/chief executive officer The U.S. Senate is expected to pass the Bipartisan Budget Act (BBA) sometime today. The measure to fund the government includes $2.36 billion for Florida agriculture relief. Please immediately contact your U.S. Representative in the House and strongly urge him or her to vote “yes” on the bill. See …
The Status of Orange Juice Supply
By Marcos Fava Neves The newest estimate from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the 2017–18 season shows Florida with only 46 million boxes of oranges coming from 50 million trees, which represents 33 percent lower production than the 2016–17 season. High droppage and small fruits are also expected. Rabobank estimates Florida’s juice production at 235,000 tons [frozen concentrated orange …
Sneak Peek: February 2018 Citrus Industry Magazine
The cover of the February issue of Citrus Industry magazine features a familiar face at the Citrus Research and Education Center. Jude Grosser has been a part of the University of Florida facility for more than three decades. He tells about the citrus variety research he has accomplished so far, as well as the goals he is still striving to …
Citrus World Leaders to Meet in Daytona
Business leaders of the global citrus industry will gather in Daytona Beach, Florida, on March 27 and 28 at the International Citrus Business Conference to develop solutions and strategic plans to ensure the survival of the world’s citrus industry. Citrus greening and declining OJ demand are threatening the survival of the citrus industry. Now more than ever, the leaders of …
PIECES OF THE PAST: Selling Sunshine
By Brenda Eubanks Burnette The citrus industry drew people to Florida with dreams of wealth and retirement, and their livelihood was widely marketed by not only the citrus packinghouses who sold their fruit, but also by their respective chambers of commerce and tourism partners across the state. Florida State Representative Tom Rooney noted in a recent opinion piece that, “The …
Root Weevil Management: Above and Below Ground
By Jawwad A. Qureshi and Larry Duncan Root weevils are a major pest group for many kinds of plants, with at least nine species that colonize citrus. Species commonly infesting citrus include Diaprepes root weevil (Diaprepes abbreviates), blue-green citrus root weevils (Pachnaeus litus and Pachnaeus opalus), little leaf notcher (Artipus floridanus), Fuller rose beetle (Asynonychus godmani) and Sri Lanka weevil …
Freeze Probability and Protection Efforts
Florida hasn’t had a widespread tree-killing citrus freeze in years. That’s very fortunate since the industry has been dealing with the highly destructive HLB disease since 2005 and with negative impacts of Hurricane Irma since September. However, a damaging freeze is always a possibility at this time of year. Consequently, multi-county citrus Extension agent Chris Oswalt held a winter weather …
Florida Citrus Hall of Fame Inductees Chosen for 2018
Two distinguished leaders will be inducted into the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame (FCHOF) during the 56th Citrus Celebration Luncheon on Friday, March 9, 2018, at Florida Southern College in Lakeland. L. Gene Albrigo, of Daytona Shores, and Marvin D. Kahn, of Sebring, will be honored at the luncheon, scheduled to take place at 11:30 a.m. Gene Albrigo has led …
Dramatic Weather Events Disrupt the Orange Juice Market
By Marcos Fava Neves The first 2017–18 U.S. Department of Agriculture forecast for Florida oranges — 54 million boxes — after Hurricane Irma was the lowest number in 70 years. Before the hurricane, we were all expecting that Florida would have more than 80 million boxes of oranges. This possible shortage of approximately 25 million boxes will dramatically affect not-from-concentrate …
International Citrus Business Conference Offers Rare Opportunity
The citrus industry has never been under such major threats to its survival as it is now. Citrus greening has drastically reduced Florida’s citrus crops. Orange juice and grapefruit juice consumption are dramatically down, and it’s not just due to higher prices. Consumers are switching to other beverages. Now more than ever, the citrus industry must gather its experts and …