Label Change

Label Change Is Great News for Growers

Daniel CooperHLB Management, OTC Expert

Sponsored Content In this special series, Tom Johnson, owner of TJ BioTech, tackles questions about optimizing trunk-injection applications to treat HLB. Q: What does the special local need label for ReMedium TI® mean for citrus growers heading into next season?  Tom Johnson: TJ BioTech recently requested a ReMedium TI® label change from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. …

og

‘OG’ to Promote Florida OJ

Daniel CooperFlorida Department of Citrus, Marketing, Orange Juice

A new Florida Department of Citrus (FDOC) ad campaign is likely to use the term “OG” extensively, according to new FDOC marketing agency Padilla Speer Beardsley, Inc. So, what does “OG” mean? Michelle Amoroso of Padilla explained that an OG is someone who is an original or originator, highly regarded and respected. She added that OGs are the paradigm; they …

South Korea

South Korea Grants Market Access to Texas Grapefruit

Daniel CooperGrapefruit, International, Texas

Texas grapefruit growers recently gained access to a new international market in South Korea worth $5 million annually. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) negotiated the technical details that will help ensure grapefruit exported from Texas are free from pests, such as the Mexican fruit fly. On June 27, 2024, South Korea’s national …

chlorpyrifos

Chlorpyrifos Update for Growers

Daniel CooperPesticides, Regulation, Tip of the Week

By Brett Bultemeier and Lauren Diepenbrock The status and availability of chlorpyrifos has had numerous, and at times, confusing changes due to new rules, court rulings and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decisions. The point of this article is to clearly define if chlorpyrifos can be used and until what date. As always, changes are possible in the future and users …

Colorado State University

Colorado State University Increases Hurricane Forecast

Daniel Cooperhurricane, Weather

Hurricane forecasters at Colorado State University (CSU) issued an update on July 9 for the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. Information obtained through early July indicates that this season will have hurricane activity well above the 1991–2020 average. CSU’s July forecast is higher in all categories compared to its June 11 forecast. A summary of the July forecast is as follows: …

ReMedium TI®

ReMedium TI Receives Exemption From Two-Year Restriction on Applications

Daniel CooperHLB Management

ReMedium TI® has received a special local need label from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumers Services (FDACS). The label will remove the requirement that applications to treat citrus greening (HLB) cannot be made beyond two years in a row. For Florida citrus growers, this means those who have applied ReMedium TI® over the past two seasons now will …

infrastructure

Grants to Help Florida Growers Strengthen Infrastructure

Daniel CooperFlorida

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service (USDA/AMS) recently announced it has a cooperative agreement with Florida under the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program (RFSI). Through this agreement, USDA and Florida are offering more than $8 million in competitive grant funding for projects designed to build resilience across the middle of the supply chain. Florida is accepting applications for …

international

International HLB Conference Focused on Grower Solutions

Daniel CooperEvents, HLB Management, Research

This spring, the seventh International Research Conference on Huanglongbing (IRCHLB) was held in Riverside, California. The inaugural event was held in 2008 and funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture. USDA researcher Tim Gottwald and University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) professor Jim Graham founded the …

craft

CRAFT Foundation Has New Leader

Daniel CooperCRAFT

Steven Hall on July 8 succeeded Tamara Wood as executive director/program manager of the Citrus Research and Field Trial (CRAFT) Foundation. Wood will return to her former full-time employer Florida Citrus Mutual after a short period helping with the transition to Hall. Hall most recently served as assistant deputy commissioner of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), …

Label Change

Not All OTC Products Are Created Equally

Daniel CooperHLB Management, OTC Expert

Sponsored Content In this special series, Tom Johnson, owner of TJ BioTech, tackles questions about optimizing trunk-injection applications to treat HLB. Q: The claim has been made that all oxytetracycline (OTC) products are the same. What have you found in your research and development work? Tom Johnson: During the development of ReMedium TI®, we had to determine the formulation, rates …

blood oranges

Better Blood Oranges a Possibility for Florida Growers

Daniel CooperFresh, Research

Blood oranges teeming with antioxidants and other health benefits may be a shot in the arm for consumers and citrus growers, if the fruit is stored at cool temperatures, a University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) study shows. But it’s too soon to know if blood oranges are a viable crop for the Florida citrus industry, …

microbiome

Study Looks at Interaction Between OTC and Soil Microbiome

Daniel CooperHLB Management, soil

A wealth of observations are being recorded by growers and scientists on the effects of trunk injection of oxytetracycline (OTC). Visually, trees have responded with better canopies. Hopefully, higher yields and quality will continue to follow the applications. But what about below ground? There have been recorded improvements in citrus root mass in treated trees. Sarah Strauss, associate professor of …

labor contractor

Florida Labor Contractor Cited in Orange Harvester Death

Daniel CooperLabor, Regulation, Weather

A federal workplace safety investigation found a Florida labor contractor could have prevented the fatal illness of a 41-year-old worker who collapsed while harvesting oranges at Alico Farms in December 2023. According to investigators, the incident could have been avoided if the required steps to protect employees from hazards associated with high temperatures were taken.  Inspectors with the U.S. Department of Labor’s …

toolkit

Heat-Related Illness Toolkit Available

Daniel CooperLabor, Weather

The Southeastern Coastal Center for Agricultural Health and Safety (SCCAHS) and the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) have created an online toolkit to help protect agricultural workers from the summer heat. Last year’s sweltering summer temperatures convinced SCCAHS leadership that additional promotion about heat-related illness education could save lives. Even before the summer ended, the …

task force

Task Force and Credit Line to Assist Brazil with Greening

Daniel CooperBrazil, HLB Management

Fundecitrus recently announced two efforts aimed at assisting Brazilian growers with citrus greening. A São Paulo task force will include a focus on the disease, and a credit line will be available for growers with greening in their orchards. In addition to greening, the public/private task force will address development of biofertilizer and biological research, studies to increase productivity in …

Microbiome

How Does OTC Impact the Soil Microbiome?

Daniel CooperAll In For Citrus Podcast, soil

Sarah Strauss, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) soil microbiologist, joined the June All In For Citrus podcast episode to discuss her research on the interaction of oxytetracycline (OTC) currently being injected into citrus trees and the soil microbiome. She noted that OTC does change the soil microbial community. The good news is that the changes …

high-density plantings

ACP Management in High-Density Plantings

Daniel CooperPsyllids, Tip of the Week

By Jawwad Qureshi The Asian citrus psyllid (ACP, Figure 1) is the vector of huanglongbing (HLB) disease associated with the phloem-limited bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus. Infected trees start to decline and produce poor-quality fruit, which drops prematurely. Consequently, citrus production has decreased dramatically since the advent of HLB in Florida in 2005. There is no cure for the disease yet. …

OTC

Seeking a Partner for OTC

Daniel CooperHLB Management

Few would dispute that the approval of oxytetracycline (OTC) for use as a trunk-injection therapy to treat HLB is one of the biggest breakthroughs in the nearly two decades of fighting the disease. Most Florida citrus growers believe the therapy has been a net positive and they are committed to continuing the treatment. However, there’s a stipulation in the labels …

Millennium Block

Millennium Block Research Shows Promising Results

Daniel CooperGrapefruit, Indian River, Research

A recent update of Millennium Block research at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Indian River Research and Education Center in Fort Pierce indicates the 5,500 trees in the project are yielding promising results. The four trials within the Millennium Block aim to unlock the genetic potential of new scion and rootstock hybrids never tested …