Harvest+

Brazil’s Harvest+ Reports Progress

Daniel CooperBrazil, Harvesting

Brazil’s Harvest+ project coordinator, Efraim Albrecht, recently traveled to Europe in search of mechanized and semi-mechanized solutions to improve citrus harvesting in Brazil. Harvest+ seeks to establish partnerships with companies that develop equipment and technologies that serve Brazilian orchards. It also seeks to contact universities and research centers that have innovative projects. In Seville, Spain, Move Agro’s coordinator and process …

Orange Peels

Repurposing Orange Peels for Heart Health

Daniel CooperResearch

Orange peels may hold a key to better cardiovascular health, new University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS)-led research shows. Some gut bacteria help develop cardiovascular disease. When they feed on certain nutrients during digestion, gut bacteria produce trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO). Levels of TMAO can help predict future cardiovascular disease, according to researchers at the Cleveland Clinic. …

Citrus Achievement Award

Preserving and Promoting the Florida Citrus Industry

Daniel CooperAwards

Citrus historian and volunteer extraordinaire Brenda Eubanks Burnette is the 2024 Citrus Achievement Award winner. Brenda Eubanks Burnette’s initial exposure to the citrus industry was merely by chance. As Miss Winter Haven in 1978, she was asked to fill in when the reigning Florida Citrus Queen couldn’t make a scheduled appearance at a citrus processing plant. A MEMORABLE REIGN Needing …

June

Sneak Peek: June 2024 Citrus Industry

Daniel CooperAwards, HLB Management, Sneak Peek

The Citrus Achievement Award has been honoring outstanding industry leaders since 2001. Recipients were previously recognized in Florida Grower magazine. With the consolidation of Florida Grower and Specialty Crop Industry magazines to create Specialty Crop Grower, the award now has a new home in Citrus Industry magazine. The move was made possible by award sponsor TJ BioTech. The June issue …

antibiotics

Integrating Antibiotics Into a Broader Management Plan for HLB

Daniel CooperHLB Management

By Lukasz Stelinski, Eric Roldan and Kirsten Pelz-Stelinski Use of antibiotics in fruit production is not a new idea, but it has only recently been applied on a larger scale in Florida citrus. The initial labels for huanglongbing (HLB) treatment with antibiotics in Florida citrus were approved in March 2016 in response to significant economic losses caused by HLB. Antibiotics …

pre-harvest

Final Pre-Harvest Agricultural Water Rule Published

Daniel CooperRegulation, Water

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a final rule on certain pre-harvest agricultural water. The rule revises requirements for covered produce, other than sprouts, in the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act Produce Safety Rule. According to FDA, the revised requirements are intended to enhance public health by improving the safety of water used in produce cultivation. FDA stated …

play

PIECES OF THE PAST: Play Portrayed Florida Citrus History

Daniel CooperPieces of the Past

By Brenda Eubanks Burnette Mohamed Ismail recently gave me a booklet titled “Golden Harvest – The Romance of Florida Citrus” written by Nina Oliver Dean for the Florida State Horticultural Society “on the occasion of its semi-centennial celebration.” It was actually a play described as “a pageant depicting the important events in the history of Florida citrus from its introduction …

citrus black spot

Florida Citrus Black Spot Quarantines Expanded

Daniel CooperDiseases, Florida, Regulation

Agriculture officials have increased the existing citrus black spot (CBS) quarantine area in Florida and established a new quarantine area. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Division of Plant Industry (FDACS DPI) took these actions. CBS is a fungal disease that leaves fruit speckled …

Texas

Texas Mexfly Quarantines Established and Expanded

Daniel CooperPests, Regulation, Texas

Federal and Texas agriculture officials have established some new Mexican fruit fly (Anastrepha ludens; Mexfly) quarantines in Texas and expanded others. The dates and actions taken by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) and the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) were: APHIS is applying safeguarding measures and restrictions on the interstate movement of …

sunlime

SunLime Has High Marketing Potential

Daniel CooperEvents, Limes

Finger limes are liked by consumers and might be marketed to high-end food outlets, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) researchers reported recently. Speaking at a finger lime field day April 24 at the Citrus Research and Education Center, UF/IFAS data management analyst Fredy Ballen offered take-away messages from consumer/market research on the UF/IFAS-released SunLime finger …

Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania Predicts Record Storms in 2024

Daniel Cooperhurricane, Weather

Climate scientist Michael Mann at the University of Pennsylvania School of Arts & Sciences and his team have predicted a record-breaking 33 named storms for the 2024 North Atlantic hurricane season. They said the number of storms could potentially range from 27 to 39. The hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. Earlier this spring, Colorado State University …

mixing and loading

Proper Mixing and Loading of Pesticides

Daniel CooperCEU

By Amir Rezazadeh Editor’s note: This article grants one continuing education unit (CEU) in the Core category toward the renewal of a Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services restricted-use pesticide license when the accompanying test is submitted and approved. The primary pesticide handling tasks are mixing and loading. These are also the most harmful aspects of pesticide application. Because …

strategy

Five-Year Strategy for Fruit Flies Announced

Daniel CooperPests

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) has released its Fruit Fly Exclusion and Detection Program Strategy. The plan covers the period of 2024 to 2028. The agency called the document “a unified roadmap” for protecting American agriculture from the threat of invasive fruit flies. USDA APHIS worked with members of the National Plant …

field day

Finger Lime Field Day Draws Mostly Non-Citrus Crowd

Daniel CooperEvents, Limes

Only a few Florida commercial citrus growers were on hand for an April 24 finger lime field day at the Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC) in Lake Alfred. Most of the more than 40 attendees did not own citrus groves, and about half were women — definitely not the standard crowd for a CREC event. Those in attendance had …

hlb

Rigorous HLB Control Works at Brazilian Farm

Daniel CooperBrazil, HLB Management

Fabrício Eustáquio Lanza, research coordinator at Brazil’s Cambuhy Agricola, recently told how his company has kept HLB at low and economically acceptable incidence levels. His presentation at the recent International Research Conference on HLB was based on a report he co-authored with Alexandre Tachibana, Ivan Brandimarte, Antonio Juliano Ayres and Renato Beozzo Bassanezi. The report follows: MANAGEMENT MEASURES Huanglongbing (HLB), …

sprayer

PIECES OF THE PAST: Citrus Sprayer Innovation

Daniel CooperIrrigation, Pieces of the Past

By Brenda Eubanks Burnette In the early 1900s, there were a number of inventions made to help the growing citrus industry flourish. One of those inventions took place in Winter Haven at the Van Fleet Company in Florence Villa. The company manufactured the Van Fleet sprayer. An article in the May 1920 issue of The Citrus Industry magazine described it …

research

Evolving Research Priorities for Florida Citrus

Daniel CooperCRDF, Research

Last week, growers convened in Avon Park for the annual Florida Citrus Growers’ Institute. The daylong seminar program provides updates on the latest research in the fight against HLB and other production issues facing growers. Rick Dantzler, chief operating officer of the Citrus Research and Development Foundation (CRDF), presented an update on the organization’s research priorities. He noted that CRDF …

consumers

Florida OJ Has Solid Share of Consumers

Daniel CooperFlorida, Orange Juice, Research

A significant portion of consumers are drawn to Florida orange juice (OJ) despite recent economic setbacks, a University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) study shows.  “There is an intrinsic value that consumers have for Florida orange juice. When they think of Florida, orange juice is often part of the imagery,” said Marisa Zansler, director of economic …

Kistler

Kistler to Direct Indian River Research and Education Center

Daniel CooperEducation, Indian River

Mark Kistler will become director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Indian River Research and Education Center (IRREC) in Fort Pierce on June 17. He will succeed Ron Cave, who has been the IRREC director since 2016. Cave will continue with UF/IFAS as a faculty member. Kistler currently is professor and dean of the …