Heller Bros. Packinghouse Closes

Josh McGillPacking

Heller Bros. Packing Corp.’s packinghouse in Winter Garden, Florida, has ceased operations. The 50,000-square-foot facility had operated since 1939. “It’s a big loss for the citrus industry. It’s a big loss for Winter Garden,” said Jim Garceau. His company, Orlando Citrus, bought fresh grapefruit, oranges and tangerines from Heller Bros. from 1992 to 2020. He sold the fruit to farmers’ …

florida citrus

How to Squelch Summer Weeds

Josh McGillweeds

Summer is “a field day for weeds,” Ramdas Kanissery said in a March 29 presentation about weed control for citrus. The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences assistant professor provided a progressive step-by-step approach to suppressing weeds during the summer. CONTROL EXISTING WEEDSGrowers can get off to a good start by controlling existing weeds with post-emergent herbicides. …

Lessons Learned From HLB as an Immune-Mediated Plant Disease

Josh McGillHLB Management, Research

By Nian Wang How the huanglongbing (HLB) pathogen Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas) causes damage to infected citrus trees has been widely debated. A recent study demonstrates that HLB is an immune-mediated plant disease (Ma et al., 2022). It was discovered that CLas infection of citrus stimulates systemic and chronic immune response in phloem tissues, including reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, …

Gibberellic Acid Shows Promising Results on Hamlin

Josh McGillHLB Management, PGRs, Research

By Tripti Vashisth and Taylor Livingston Grower-led trials in 2022 showed positive results of gibberellic acid (GA) treatment on Hamlin trees in Florida. This article primarily discusses two growers’ trials in detail. Both sites showed improvement in fruit production from the GA application. Many growers have adopted GA applications in the past year as part of their grove management strategy. …

mandarin

Benefits of Increasing Citrus Hybrids in Orange Juice

Josh McGillOrange Juice

Allowing citrus hybrids with certain criteria in orange juice (OJ) was one of several issues addressed in a recent workshop about potential changes to OJ’s standard of identity. Peter Chaires, executive director of the New Varieties Development and Management Corp., discussed benefits of increasing the hybrid allowance in OJ. Chaires presented a consumer study of juices conducted by University of …

Lessons From Hurricane Ian Will Help Growers

Josh McGillhurricane, Survey

Researchers will assess 20 to 30 Florida citrus groves impacted by 2022’s Hurricane Ian to learn lessons that will help growers in the future. University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) researchers Christopher Vincent and Tripti Vashisth and their teams will conduct the assessment. The research will be funded by a $280,000, one-year grant from the U.S. …

European

Florida Forecast Sees Small Gains

Tacy CalliesCrop Forecast

The Florida 2022–23 all-orange forecast inched up 1% in March to 16.1 million boxes while the grapefruit forecast rose 7% to 1.6 million boxes. The U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA NASS) forecast for Florida tangerines and tangelos was unchanged at 500,000 boxes.    The entire rise of 100,000 boxes in the orange forecast was in the …

Black Spot Management by Variety and Age

Josh McGillBrazil, Diseases

In Brazil’s São Paulo citrus belt, infections of fruit by black spot usually occur from petal fall, in September/October, until the end of the rainy season, usually in April. Black spot can reduce production by up to 85%. Some studies have shown that the amount of fungicide applications to control black spot can be established according to the orange variety. …

IPCs Changing the Florida Citrus Landscape

Josh McGillAll In For Citrus Podcast, IPCs

The use of individual protective covers (IPCs) to safeguard young citrus trees from HLB has become a common practice in Florida groves in recent years. Fernando Alferez, an assistant professor of citrus horticulture with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), has led the research effort to study IPCs and their effectiveness in preventing HLB. He …

In Defense of Florida’s Citrus Industry

Josh McGillEconomics

By Marisa L. Zansler The Florida citrus industry has endured many challenges throughout its storied history, but never more so than over the past 18 years. During this time, the devastating impact of HLB has become more apparent and entrenched as the root cause of declines in the production of oranges, grapefruit and specialty citrus. HLB, combined with recent weather-related …

citrus

OLL Sweet Oranges Producing Pre-HLB Fruit Quality

Josh McGillTip of the Week, Varieties

By Jude Grosser, Fred Gmitter and Maria Brenelli The new OLL (Orie and Louise Lee) series of sweet oranges (OLL-4, OLL-8 and OLL-20) are very high-quality processing sweet oranges that generally produce higher soluble solids and better juice color than Valencia. OLL trees are more vigorous than Valencia, and anecdotal evidence suggests they are slightly more HLB-tolerant than Valencia. Trees …

china

Brazil’s Orange Forecast Climbs Slightly 

Josh McGillBrazil, Crop Forecast

The third 2022–23 orange crop forecast for Brazil’s São Paulo and West-Southwest Minas Gerais citrus belt amounted to 316.23 million boxes of 40.8 kilograms each. That is 0.7% higher than the projected crop in December 2022. This increase is mainly due to the production of Pera Rio orange. Pera Rio’s harvest is close to complete with higher-than-expected yield. The forecast …

Florida Orange Forecast Continues to Fall

Tacy CalliesCrop Forecast

February’s federal citrus forecast trimmed another 2 million boxes from Florida’s projected orange crop, dropping expected 2022–23 production to 16 million boxes. That’s an 11% drop from what had already been projected to be a historically low orange crop. The forecast was issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA NASS). If the Florida orange forecast …

Alico Shares Quarterly Update

Josh McGillfinancial, hurricane, Industry News Release

Alico Citrus harvested 841,000 boxes of early- and mid-season (early/mid) oranges for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2022. That’s a decrease of approximately 6.1% from the same period in the prior fiscal year. The company will complete harvesting of early/mid oranges in the current fiscal year. It said it will recognize an overall decrease in the number of early/mid …

Argentina Orange and Tangerine Update

Josh McGillCrop Forecast, International

Orange production in Argentina in 2022–23 is expected to fall to 800,000 metric tons (MT) compared to 830,000 MT the prior year. Tangerine production is projected to remain at 380,000 MT. The forecast was issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA FAS). La Niña-related drought is expected to have a negative effect on fruit production, especially …

Florida orange

The Promise of Gibberellic Acid

Josh McGillHLB Management, PGRs

Researcher Tripti Vashisth shed additional light on the promise of gibberellic acid (GA) applications in rejuvenating HLB-affected orange trees during a Jan. 11 presentation. Some of the important messages that the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences associate professor highlighted were: VALENCIA TRIALIn a 2016 to 2022 Valencia field trial, GA applications made from September to January …

Florida Citrus Forecast Falls Further

Tacy CalliesCrop Forecast

Florida citrus crops, already at historically low levels, were forecast Jan. 12 to fall even lower. The all-orange forecast fell 10% from the December projection. The grapefruit and tangerine/tangelo forecasts both tumbled 17%. The forecast was issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA NASS). If realized, the orange, grapefruit and tangerine/tangelo crops will be 56%, …

production

Australia Orange Juice Production and Trade

Josh McGillCrop Forecast, International, Orange Juice

Orange juice (OJ) production in Australia in 2022–23 is forecast at 16,100 metric tons (MT), a decrease of 2% from the 2021–22 season’s 16,500 MT. In 2020–21, the country’s OJ production reached 17,400 MT. The 2022–23 forecast was made by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA FAS).   The planted area of juicing orange varieties, accounting for 36% …

Get the Timing Right for Gibberellic Acid Applications

Josh McGillHLB Management, Tip of the Week

By Tripti Vashisth Since 2021, a number of Florida growers have adopted the use of gibberellic acid (GA) in their grove management programs. This widespread adoption is due to the fact that GA-treated trees show canopy rejuvenation and reduction in preharvest fruit drop, resulting in improved yields. The research on Valencia shows that the effect of GA improves over time. …

alico

Egypt Orange Production on the Rise

Josh McGillCrop Forecast, International

Orange production in Egypt is forecast at 3.6 million metric tons (MMT) in 2022–23, an increase of almost 20% compared to the prior season’s 3 MMT. The increase is attributed to optimal weather conditions and temperatures during flowering of the trees, which increased fruit set. The forecast was issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA FAS).  …