citrus greening

USDA Invests in Citrus Greening Research

Daniel CooperCitrus Greening, Industry News Release

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) today announced four grants totaling more than $13.6 million to combat a scourge on the nation’s citrus industry, citrus greening disease, aka huanglongbing. The funding is made possible through NIFA’s Specialty Crop Research Initiative Citrus Disease Research and Extension Program, authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill. Sponsored …

Valencias PFD

Growers Discuss Bactericides, Nutrition and More

Ernie NeffBactericides, Nutrition, PFD

A handful of citrus growers discussed January bloom and postbloom fruit drop (PFD), bactericides, nutrition and replanting strategies at a grower forum in Sebring on January 12. Laurie Hurner, Highlands County Extension director and citrus Extension agent, summarizes the discussions. “We are looking at areas where we’ve got bloom coming on. That is a little bit nerve-wracking for January,” Hurner …

HLB

Postbloom Fruit Drop: It’s All About Timing

Ernie NeffPFD

Postbloom fruit drop (PFD) in recent years has caused many Florida citrus growers as much, or almost as much, anguish as HLB. The Citrus Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) in December approved an extension of PFD research begun in 2016. CRDF Chief Operations Officer Harold Browning discusses PFD and the research. “Progressively the last several years, PFD has increased in …

Big Data Could Bring Big Benefits

Tacy CalliesCitrus

By Taylor Hillman The flood of technologies hitting the market hasn’t slowed since developers turned their attention to precision agriculture. One thing that remains common among these technologies is the use of data, which has been previously ignored or unmonitored. Now, developers are focusing on algorithms and patterns in data sets that are collected during farming practices that will improve …

growers

Citrus Greening, Invasive Species Head 2016 UF/IFAS Stories

Daniel CooperCitrus, HLB Management, Industry News Release

A trio of projects aimed at helping Florida producers cope with the bacterial disease known as citrus greening topped the list of stories shared by the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) in 2016. This year marked the beginning of the state’s second decade battling greening disease, which is also known as huanglongbing or HLB. Other top …

Fast Track

Grower/Nurseryman Suggests Fast Track Changes

Ernie NeffCitrus Greening, Rootstocks, Scions

Nurseryman and citrus grower Phil Rucks was one of several industry members offering input on the Fast Track program on January 5 at the Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred. Fast Track lets citrus growers and nurseries access experimental University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) fresh citrus selections much earlier than was previously possible. Among …

Citrus Grower Goes Undercover

Tacy CalliesHLB Management

Ed Pines’ solution to citrus greening is to grow fruit in a citrus undercover production system. By Catalina Pines “It’s said that necessity is the mother of all invention, and today I toured one way the citrus industry is fighting back against greening,” said Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam on Twitter after touring Precision Citrus on September 23. In …

Citrus Health Management Areas vs. Individual Sprays

Tacy CalliesCitrus Health Management Areas

CHMAs have proven to be an effective strategy for psyllid control, so why isn’t there more grower participation? By Ariel Singerman and Pilar Useche It has long been recognized that mobile pests with the ability to move between farms compromise the effectiveness of individual (uncoordinated) sprays. This is because neighboring growers share the pest and, therefore, crop damage is dependent …

Research Update: Citrus Undercover Production Systems and Whole Tree Thermotherapy

Tacy CalliesCitrus

By Arnold Schumann, Laura Waldo and Alan Wright Research for producing huanglongbing (HLB)-free fresh Florida citrus with covered production systems began at the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Indian River Research and Education Center in 2013 and at the Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC) in 2014. These citrus undercover production systems (CUPS) evolved from the …

growers

15 UF/IFAS Early Career Scientists Awarded $50K Grants

Daniel CooperIndustry News Release

Fifteen early career scientists at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Scientists (UF/IFAS) have been awarded grants to help solve global issues such as thwarting invasive pests, improving crop varieties, battling citrus greening and preserving our environment. Sponsored ContentA Simpler, Safer and More Effective Way to Fight HLBOctober 25, 20245 Facts About Fire Ants and How to …

Update on Bactericide Trials

Ernie NeffBactericides, Citrus Greening, HLB Management

A Citrus Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) researcher provided an update on grower trials of bactericides for HLB to the CRDF’s Commercial Product Delivery Committee on December 5. CRDF Chief Operations Officer Harold Browning summarizes the report. “Most of the metrics that we’re most interested in are coming up as we go into harvest,” Browning says. “The true test of …

Georgia Citrus Up-and-Coming

Tacy CalliesCitrus

By Ernie Neff Georgia’s fledgling citrus industry recently formed the state’s first citrus association with a retired federal law enforcement agent leading the way. “We are pioneers in this,” says Lindy Savelle, president of the Georgia Citrus Association (GCA). Indeed they are pioneers. Extension agent Jake Price for Lowndes County, Georgia, reports that about 40 growers had 150 citrus acres …

December Citrus Industry Features Annual Citrus Guide

Tacy CalliesCitrus

December is the time for Christmas trees, gift-giving and the annual Citrus Guide! The December issue of Citrus Industry magazine features our annual Citrus Guide. It’s a directory of contact information for citrus organizations, agencies, researchers and vendors. This is an issue readers will want to keep handy all year long. In addition to the Citrus Guide, this edition includes …

psyllids

Grower: Don’t Cut Back on Psyllid Control

Ernie NeffCitrus Greening, HLB Management, Pests

Gardinier Florida Citrus General Manager Lee Jones, one of several attending a Gulf Citrus Health Management Area Workshop on November 15 in Immokalee, wanted to share a message with fellow growers. The message: Don’t reduce efforts to control HLB-spreading Asian citrus psyllids. “Everybody’s groves this year are looking a little better,” Jones told Citrus Industry magazine immediately after the seminar. …

strong orange production

Grower Gets Strong Orange Production

Ernie NeffBactericides, Citrus Greening

Bobby Mixon of Sunny South Packing Company, one of several sharing experiences at a recent grower forum in Arcadia, reported good production from a Vernia orange block. He said the block yielded 450 to 500 boxes to the acre last season, which is far above average orange yield in the HLB era. Mixon says Vernia provides “alternate production” from year …

The Many Hats of Allen Morris

Tacy CalliesCitrus, Economics

By Tacy Callies Having grown up in the small north Florida town of Macclenny, a farming community, Allen Morris was introduced to agriculture at an early age. His father died in a tractor accident when Morris was seven, but that didn’t deter him from wanting to earn a living in agriculture. In fact, at 14, he obtained a restricted driver’s …

Fresh

Slow Start for Fresh Florida Grapefruit Season

Ernie NeffCitrus Greening, Grapefruit

Fresh Florida grapefruit shipments continue to decline in concert with the downturn in production resulting from HLB and other problems. On October 26, the Florida Department of Citrus projected fresh Florida grapefruit shipments will be about 4.13 million boxes this season. Three seasons ago, in 2013-14, fresh Florida grapefruit shipments totaled 6.1 million boxes and have dropped in each season …

Smelling Huanglongbing for Early-Detection

Josh McGillCitrus Greening

Another early-detection method being developed works by smelling huanglongbing infections in trees. This method detects the different scents plants give off. Researchers at the University of California, Davis have created a test that could lead to advances in fighting huanglongbing (HLB) disease in citrus. Researcher and professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, Christina Davis, said the test looks for a …

Control of Stem-End Rot of Fresh Citrus

Tacy CalliesDiseases

By Mark A. Ritenour, Jiuxu Zhang and Megan M. Dewdney Decay of fresh citrus fruit is most often caused by fungal pathogens that grow and develop in the hot and wet conditions typical in Florida. While green and blue molds (Penicillium digitatum and Penicillium italicum) and sour rot (Galactomyces citri-aurantii) are the most common postharvest citrus diseases worldwide, the subtropical …

citrus could recover

Growers to Pay Department of Citrus Historically Low Tax Rate

Ernie NeffFlorida Citrus Commission

Citrus grower taxes supporting Florida Department of Citrus (FDOC) programs this season will be 7 cents per box for processed oranges and fresh grapefruit – the two most utilized fruits. Those historically low rates were proposed early in 2016 by 12 large Florida citrus growers and adopted by the Florida Citrus Commission (FCC) on October 26. Other per-box grower assessments …