November

Sneak Peek: November 2024 Citrus Industry

Daniel CooperSneak Peek

The November issue of Citrus Industry magazine features some of the faces of Georgia’s citrus industry. The cover story is a profile of citrus grower Lindy Savelle. She didn’t grow up in the citrus industry, and farming was not her first career. But her unconventional path has led her to become a leader in Georgia’s emerging citrus industry. Savelle serves …

Bleak Outlook for Florida Citrus Production

Daniel CooperCrop Forecast

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Statistics Board released its first forecast of the 2024–25 citrus season on Oct. 11. The report does not reflect the damage to the Florida citrus industry inflicted by Hurricane Milton. The Dec. 10 forecast update is expected to take that damage into account. “The forecast for the season is extremely discouraging,” said Matt Joyner, …

California

Commercial Citrus Impacted by Expanded HLB Quarantine

Daniel CooperCalifornia Corner, Diseases

The area quarantined for HLB in San Diego County, California, has been expanded, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) announced on Sept. 23. USDA APHIS took the action in cooperation with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). HLB, a plant disease caused by Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, is also known as citrus …

harvesting robot

Research Funded for Citrus-Harvesting Robot

Daniel CooperHarvesting, Technology

California’s Citrus Research Board (CRB) has signed a $900,000 funding agreement with Nanovel that includes delivery of a citrus-harvesting robot after a series of field trials in California, Nanovel reported. The field trials are set to start in the spring of 2025 and will be conducted in cooperation with citrus growers. Nanovel, an Israeli company established in 2018 by Chief …

Perricone

Perricone Farms Acquires Natalie’s Orchid Island Juice Company

Daniel CooperIndustry News Release

Perricone Farms, a craft juice company headquartered in California, announced its acquisition of Natalie’s Orchid Island Juice Company, based in Fort Pierce, Florida. Perricone Farms stated that the merger “strengthens both brands and enhances the ability to serve customers with excellence in quality and customer service coast-to-coast.” It added that the combined company will be able to take advantage of …

Specialty Crop Block Grant

Specialty Crop Block Grant Program Funds Citrus Projects

Daniel CooperHLB Management, nursery, Research

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service (USDA AMS) Specialty Crop Block Grant Program awarded 54 grants and 524 sub-award projects totaling $72.9 million for fiscal year 2024. The following citrus projects were included in the funding. CALIFORNIA The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) received a grant for $448,742 for mitigating huanglongbing (HLB) in citrus using naturally-derived …

Oriental fruit fly

Oriental Fruit Fly Quarantine Removed

Daniel CooperCalifornia Corner, Pests, Regulation

Federal and state officials on Aug. 11 removed the Oriental fruit fly quarantine in California’s Riverside and San Bernardino counties. This action releases the remaining 365 square miles of the quarantine, which contained 1,800 acres of commercial agriculture. Release from quarantine occurred after three generations elapsed since the date of the last detection, based on a degree-day model. The U.S. …

pectin

Improved Pectin From Orange Peels

Daniel CooperResearch

U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (USDA ARS) scientists have developed a high-quality and inexpensive pectin that can successfully gel in low-sugar products and still be scalable for commercial production. Pectin, a soluble fiber used mainly for gelling food products like jams and jellies, is naturally found in fruits and vegetables. Most commercial pectins are from citrus fruit peels …

fruit fly

Winning the Fruit Fly Fight

Daniel CooperPests, Regulation

Federal and state agriculture officials recently removed several fruit fly quarantines in Texas and California. TEXAS On July 16, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA/APHIS) and the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) removed the Mexican fruit fly (Mexfly) quarantine in Sullivan City, Hidalgo County. This action releases 68 square miles from quarantine. There was …

global

Global Citrus Crops on the Rise

Daniel CooperCrop Forecast, International

Global production of tangerines/mandarins, grapefruit and lemons/limes is expected to climb in 2023–24, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA FAS) reported in its Citrus: World Markets and Trade publication.  TANGERINES/MANDARINS Global tangerine/mandarin production for 2023–24 is estimated up 1.2 million tons to 38.2 million tons. Here are expectations for major producing countries: GRAPEFRUIT Global grapefruit production in …

crop insurance

Crop Insurance Options Expanded

Daniel Coopercrop insurance, Insurance

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is expanding crop insurance options for some specialty and organic growers beginning with the 2025 crop year. USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) is allowing enterprise units (EUs) by organic farming practice, adding enterprise unit eligibility for several crops, and making additional policy updates. The following changes impacting citrus will be made beginning with the …

Brazilian

Greening Bacterium Causes Changes in Psyllids

Daniel CooperPsyllids, Research

Recent studies, including a partnership project between Fundecitrus and the University of California, revealed that the citrus greening bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus causes physiological changes in psyllids, posing additional challenges to management strategies. An increase in the number of eggs, more frequent dispersal flights over longer distances and greater attractiveness to the host are some of the changes observed in …

Riverside

CLas-Positive Psyllid Sample in Riverside County

Daniel CooperCalifornia Corner, Psyllids

An adult Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) sample from a residential property in the San Jacinto Valley area of Riverside County, California, has tested positive for Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas), the bacterium that causes huanglongbing (HLB). The positive sample was collected as part of the Multi-Pest Risk Survey on a residential property in Hemet. It was confirmed positive for CLas on …

Tau Fruit Fly

Tau Fruit Fly Quarantine Lifted in Los Angeles County

Daniel CooperCalifornia Corner, Pests, Regulation

The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) has officially declared an end to the Tau fruit fly quarantine in Los Angeles County following the successful eradication of the invasive pest. The quarantine, which was established in the Santa Clarita area of Los Angeles County, was the first-ever quarantine for the Tau fruit fly in the Western Hemisphere. It encompassed …

fruit fly

Queensland Fruit Fly Host List Includes Citrus

Daniel CooperPests, Regulation

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA/APHIS) in June established a host list of regulated articles for the Queensland fruit fly (QFF). The pest, which has been found in California, is native to Australia and is not endemic to the United States. QFF attacks more than 120 plant species, including numerous commercial varieties of fruits …

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 …

citrus forecast

Final U.S. Citrus Forecast for 2023–24

Daniel CooperCrop Forecast

The U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA NASS) issued its final citrus forecast for the 2023–24 season on July 10. FLORIDA The Florida all-orange forecast rose 1% from the June forecast to 17.96 million boxes. That exceeds 2022–23 production of 15.82 million boxes but is far below 2021–22 production of 41.2 million boxes. Non-Valencia orange production is …

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 …

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, …

July

Sneak Peek: July 2024 Citrus Industry

Daniel CooperHLB Management, Sneak Peek

The conversation in Florida citrus continues to center around trunk injection of oxytetracycline (OTC). The July issue of Citrus Industry magazine presents the latest information on the OTC topic. OTC product labels require a one-year pause in application after two years of use. This requirement was put in place to prevent pathogen resistance to the product. Florida growers who have …