Assessing Spatial Patterns of Individual Protective Covers

Tacy CalliesIPCs

By Fernando Alferez, Ozgur Batuman, Susmita Gaire, Ute Albrecht and Jawwad Qureshi In previous and ongoing research performed at the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center (SWFREC), we have demonstrated that individual protective covers (IPCs) are effective in keeping psyllids off newly planted citrus trees. Trees have been HLB-free for more than two years after planting, and the IPCs provide …

crop forecast

Help Trees Handle Heat

Tacy CalliesAll In For Citrus Podcast, Weather

Florida citrus production can be significantly impacted during the summertime heat. High temperatures with little to no rainfall can affect trees’ vegetative growth, fruit set and fruit quality, says Amir Rezazadeh, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) multi-county fruit and field crops agent. Heat is a factor that can cause citrus trees to become significantly dehydrated. …

dorian

Hurricane Risk Dips Slightly

Ernie NeffForecast, hurricane

Colorado State University (CSU) hurricane researchers on Aug. 5 slightly reduced the number of storms and hurricanes they expect in the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season. The researchers reduced the number of expected storms to 18, down from 20 in the July forecast. The number of expected storms is now the same as CSU projected in June. As for the expected …

orange

Florida Production Faces Further Decline

Ernie NeffForecast, Production

Florida orange and red grapefruit production, already at historically low levels, will likely decline for years, according to a leading citrus economist. Tom Spreen, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences professor emeritus, calculated Florida crop output through the 2031-32 season based on various yield and tree replacement assumptions. Oranges and red grapefruit are Florida’s top-producing varieties.   …

Team Seeks Measures Against HLB

Ernie NeffHLB Management, Research

Codex DNA, Inc. has announced a collaboration with researchers from several organizations to identify scalable therapeutic measures against HLB. The multidisciplinary team has been awarded a grant worth nearly $15 million from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to develop cost-effective and sustainable solutions to the disease. Other collaborators include the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Research …

Parson Brown Outperforming Hamlin

Ernie NeffResearch, Varieties

Manjul Dutt recently discussed his research on the Parson Brown (PB) sweet orange, which shows some characteristics that could make it more attractive than Hamlin, Florida’s leading early-season orange. Dutt is a University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences horticultural sciences researcher at the Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred. Dutt’s research, funded by the Citrus …

New CBD Comes From Orange Peels

Ernie NeffIndustry News Release

The company Peels has launched a CBD oil made from orange peels. Peels was founded by National Football League veteran Chris Hetherington, who serves as the company’s chief executive officer. Peels’ process of deriving CBD from orange peels is called cyclic terpene assembly, a proprietary technique for combining organic molecules. This process combines terpenes from orange peels with olivetol, a naturally …

UF/IFAS Expo Booth Improved

Ernie NeffCitrus Expo

Growers have always left the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) booth at Citrus Expo with much information they can use in the grove. This year, the UF/IFAS citrus staff hopes to make a visit to the booth even more fruitful. “In the past, we have had two large booths and it has had many posters,” …

soil

CRDF on Plant Breeding and Peptides

Ernie NeffBreeding, CRDF, Peptides

Plant breeding, project terminations and peptide discussions dominated the July 27 meeting of the Citrus Research and Development Foundation’s (CRDF) board of directors. CRDF Chief Operating Officer Rick Dantzler provided the following report: PLANT BREEDINGWe continue to believe that plant breeding will ultimately be how we put HLB in the rearview mirror. As a result, we continue to put a …

Expo Focus: ‘What Growers Can Do Now’

Ernie NeffCitrus Expo

Many of the citrus presentations featured on the first day of Citrus Expo, Aug. 18, will focus on “what growers can do now” to keep groves productive, Michael Rogers reports. Rogers, director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences’ (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center, offers what he calls “a 30,000-foot view” of the citrus seminar …

Sneak Peek: August 2021 Citrus Industry

Tacy CalliesSneak Peek

August brings the biggest issue of Citrus Industry magazine of the year! That’s due to the annual Citrus, Vegetable and Specialty Crop Expo on Aug. 18-19 in North Fort Myers, Florida. The August issue serves as the show guide to the event and includes the seminar schedule, an exhibitor directory and everything attendees need to make the most of the …

Maximizing Rootstock Seed Production

Tacy CalliesSeed

By Fernando Alferez, Deived Uilian de Carvalho, Daniel Boakye, Tim Gast and Manjul Dutt Endemic HLB in Florida has provoked increased pressure to replant and reset infected groves. This has resulted in concern from citrus growers and nursery operators about seed availability for the most popular rootstocks in the state. In the past, all rootstock fruit (both early and late …

Keeping Young Ag Workers Safe

Ernie NeffEducation, Safety

The National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety (NCCRAHS) announced resources that can be used to help keep young agriculture workers safe. NCCRAHS pointed out that there are serious risks to children doing farm work, as well as positives. During the past decade, more youth have died working in agriculture than in all other industries combined, the …

Indian River Millennium Block Shows Rootstock Effects

Tacy CalliesRootstocks

By Rhuanito S. Ferrarezi, J. Martin Zapien-Macias, Mac Hossain, Tom James, Ronald D. Cave, Peter Spyke, William S. Castle, Jude W. Grosser, Fred Gmitter and Ed Stover In the last decade, huanglongbing (HLB) has reduced production of Florida grapefruit by 75%, mandarin by 78% and sweet orange by 52%. This decrease is significant for the Indian River District, which produces …

florida

Final U.S. Citrus Crop Forecast Sees Changes

Daniel CooperCrop Forecast

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) final 2020-2021 Florida orange forecast is 52.8 million boxes. California orange production edged out Florida with 54.5 million boxes of oranges. Texas oranges remained at 1.05 million boxes. The final Florida orange total is comprised of 22.7 million boxes of non-Valencia oranges (early, midseason and Navel varieties), unchanged from the June forecast, and 30.1 …

Valencia Performance and Rootstock Propagation Methods

Tacy CalliesRootstocks

By Ute Albrecht, Sameer Pokhrel and Kim D. Bowman According to the 2019–2020 Citrus Budwood Annual Report, there were 772,391 (20%) rootstock propagations from tissue culture and 224,346 (6%) from cuttings out of the 3.9 million total propagations that season. The report is from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. This unprecedented high number of vegetative (not from …

new york times

EU Orange Juice Production Climbs

Ernie NeffInternational, Orange Juice

European Union (EU) orange juice (OJ) production is forecast at 89,228 metric tons in 2020-21, a rise of almost 25% compared to the prior year. The EU forecast for OJ production was reported in June by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service. The forecast is in line with the expected growth in the volume of European oranges destined …

Argentina Citrus Production Estimates

Ernie NeffInternational

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA/FAS) in June reported changes in its 2020-21 estimates for citrus production in Argentina. The fresh lemon production estimate was increased 12% to 1.15 million metric tons. The fresh orange estimate was revised down by 30,000 metric tons, to 670,000 metric tons. The tangerine production estimate was unchanged at 360,000 metric tons. …

citrus

Growers Benefit From Citrus Nutrition Box Program

Ashley RobinsonNutrition

Florida growers participating in the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) citrus nutrition box program have found great value in the program. Now in its second year of operation, the program provides free soil and leaf testing as well as tailored quarterly nutritional counseling. These free boxes of materials and instructions are distributed to registered growers …

CRAFT Leadership to Change

Ernie NeffResearch

There will soon be leadership changes at the Citrus Research and Field Trials (CRAFT) Foundation. Tamara Wood will succeed Kristen Carlson as executive director and program manager; she was previously assistant program manager. Tom Mitchell will succeed Glenn Beck as president. Wood will manage day-to-day operations. There are no plans to hire a new assistant program manager, but the board …