Injecting Citrus Tree Trunks with Bactericide May Help Stem Greening

Josh McGill Citrus

By: Brad Buck GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A chemical treatment known as a bactericide could help preserve citrus trees from the potentially deadly and costly greening disease, a new University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) study shows. Citrus is estimated as a $10.9 billion-a-year industry in Florida and the finding could be key to helping the state’s …

HLB and ‘Tolerance’ as a Practical Matter in Choosing Rootstocks

Tacy Callies Rootstocks

By Bill Castle (Editor’s note: Click on the graphs throughout the article to enlarge them.) By classic biological definition, a particular citrus rootstock-scion combination when infected with Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas) would be considered tolerant if infected trees had no more than slight reductions in performance, sometimes accompanied by a reduced level of the pathogen. That definition implies that the …

Bactericide Survey Results Summary

Josh McGill Bactericides, Citrus Greening

By Stephanie Slinski and Harold Browning (Editor’s note: Click on the graphs throughout the article to enlarge them.) Bactericides have been available to growers as a new tool to improve the health of HLB-infected trees since early March 2016. This use has been under a crisis declaration from the Florida commissioner of agriculture, but on August 15 of this year, …

Post-Bloom Fruit Drop Survey

Tacy Callies Pests

A Citrus Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) Research Management Committee meeting was called on June 29, 2016, to discuss post-bloom fruit drop (PFD) caused by Colletotricum spp. in Florida. In this meeting, it was suggested that there is an opportunity to retrospectively investigate PFD management strategies from 2016 to determine if grower treatment programs led to variable results. A survey …

Saving Florida’s Citrus Industry Through Collaboration and Innovation

Kelsey Fry Citrus, Citrus Greening

From Kevin Shea, Administrator, USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service: The Florida citrus industry is under siege and the invader is a tiny bug called the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP). The ACP spreads a disease known as Huanglongbing (HLB) or citrus greening, and together they are destroying groves that have been cultivated by families for generations. But all is …

Rubio, Nelson Urge Senate Leaders To Address Citrus Greening in Tax Legislation

Kelsey Fry Agriculture, Citrus, Citrus Greening

  RUBIO, NELSON URGE SENATE LEADERS TO ADDRESS CITRUS GREENING IN TAX LEGISLATION LATER THIS YEAR (Washington, D.C.- July 21, 2016: News Release from office of Sen. Rubio) – U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) today urged Senate leaders of both parties to make citrus greening a priority in tax legislation expected to be considered by Congress …

HLB

Grower: Try Fewer Inputs for HLB Before Quitting

Ernie Neff Citrus Greening, Irrigation, Nutrition

Mid-Florida Citrus Foundation grove’s experience of doubled production while cutting expenses in half is not unusual and should encourage some growers to hang on in the face of HLB. So says foundation President Glenn Beck. “It’s a scenario we’ve seen many times outside of the foundation,” says Beck, a grower and caretaker. “They (HLB-infected trees) seem to be recovering somewhat …

Citrus Forecast Has Valencia Oranges Up Slightly

Kelsey Fry Citrus

The final citrus crop forecast of the 2015-16 season, issued by Mark Hudson of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Statistics Board, is up 100,000 boxes, now at 81.5 million boxes. The total comprises 36.1 million boxes of non-Valencia oranges (early, mid-season, Navel and Temple varieties), unchanged from last month, and 45.4 million boxes of Valencia oranges, up 100,000 boxes …

Global Perspectives

World Growth and the Drop in Orange Juice Production

Josh McGill Citrus, Global Perspectives

By Marcos Fava Neves Editor’s Note: Welcome to Citrus Industry magazine’s newest column, Global Perspectives, authored by Marcos Fava Neves, an international expert on global agribusiness issues who comes from a family of farmers and is a worldwide defender of agriculture. As a professor of planning and strategy at the School of Business at the University of São Paulo, Neves …

Growers Learn About Diaprepes Root Weevil Control

Tacy Callies Pests

University of Florida professor Larry Duncan presented the latest research on using entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) to control Diaprepes root weevil (DRW) in citrus to approximately 30 growers on June 30 at the Hardee County Extension Service office in Wauchula. The combination of HLB with DRW intrusion has created a situation that will accelerate the destruction of most infected trees. DRW …

Orange Juice Market Challenges

Tacy Callies Economics

Allen Morris, vice president of sales and marketing for Blue Lake Citrus Products, discusses the decline of the U.S. orange juice market. “Since 2001, we’ve lost about half of the U.S. OJ market,” he says. “When we look at June of this year compared to June of last year, total OJ consumption declined by 4.8 percent even though prices declined …

The Latest Buzz on Honeybees

Kelsey Fry Citrus

There’s a renewed buzz in honeybee research when it comes to problems within the hive. AgNet Media’s Sabrina Hill talks with a bee care program leader and a bee researcher.  Hear the full report here: The Buzz on Honeybees New research shows more threats to honeybees. There is a lot of talk in the general public about pesticides and bees. …

citrus

Florida Citrus Commission Cuts FDOC Budget and Staff

Ernie Neff Florida Citrus Commission

The Florida Citrus Commission completed several months of heavy budget-cutting on June 14 by approving a preliminary 2016-17 budget for the Florida Department of Citrus (FDOC). Several large growers had requested heavy cuts earlier this year, and the Citrus Commission responded. The department’s budget will drop almost 32 percent from the current season, and the staff will be reduced by …

Sterile Insect Release Facility Gets Upgrade

Kelsey Fry Genetic Engineering, Pests

John D. Renshaw, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) sterile insect technology director, says that the USDA Sterile Insect Release Facility is one of the department’s best-kept secrets. And since there are only 50 similar facilities worldwide, many might agree with him. The sterile insect program in Sarasota, Florida, has been sterilizing male Mediterranean fruit flies (medflies) from its facility on …

Citrus Department Proposes Staff, Tax Cuts

Kelsey Fry Legislative

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 …

Deadline Approaching for Citrus Research Grants

Kelsey Fry Citrus, Citrus Greening, Legislative

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 …

Heavy Department of Citrus Cuts Proposed

Josh McGill Citrus, Legislative

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 …

CAST Award Recognizes Dr. Kevin Folta

Josh McGill Citrus

CAST Award Recognizes Dr. Kevin Folta for Excellence in Science Communication WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) announced that the 2016 Borlaug CAST Communication Award will be given to Dr. Kevin Folta, chair of the Horticultural Sciences Department at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Dr. Folta is renowned for his …

Veteran Biologist Named Director

Kelsey Fry Citrus

Veteran Biologist Named Director of UF/IFAS Entomology Lab By Brad Buck GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Just as the Zika virus is causing concern worldwide, a University of Florida insect specialist with 36 years of experience at the Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory has been named the lab’s new director. Professor Jorge Rey started at FMEL, part of the UF Institute of Food …

Florida Citrus Hall of Fame Inductees

Josh McGill Citrus

Citrus Industry Legends Inducted into Florida Citrus Hall of Fame Friday, March 11, was the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame Celebration Luncheon, where a crowd of over 400 citrus community and industry members welcomed three new inductees into the Hall of Fame. The inductees are Dr. William S. “Bill” Castle of Lake Alfred, John C. “Jack” Norris of Palm City, …