By Brenda Eubanks Burnette The TruBlu brand was one of Wm. G. Roe & Sons’ citrus labels from Winter Haven. When I saw a citrus crate for sale with that label, I immediately bought it. However, once I received it, I was shocked because it was a smaller version of the shipping crates I had seen in the past! I …
Trying to Reason With Hurricane-Season Forecasts
By Matt Smith It’s September in Florida, which means two things: the start to the latest “rebuilding year” for Florida football and the traditional peak of hurricane season. It was in September of 2017 that Hurricane Irma cut just about the worst path imaginable for Florida’s citrus growers. Along with causing physical damage to groves, Irma also contributed to disease …
Reminders on Requirements for Fruit Movement
Florida’s fresh citrus industry was recently reminded of federal requirements for movement of fruit from some disease quarantine areas to contiguous states and to the European Union (EU). The reminders came from Paul Mears with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) during Citrus Packinghouse Day. Mears is the Florida Citrus Health Response Program (CHRP) …
How to Get Certified for Paraquat Dichloride Use
By Ajia Paolillo and Lourdes Pérez Cordero If you use herbicides containing paraquat dichloride in your citrus groves, it is important that you are aware of the use certification requirements for this product. In 2016, certification and training for the use of this pesticide were put into place in accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) risk mitigation requirements. Any …
PIECES OF THE PAST: Of Men and Measures
By Brenda Eubanks Burnette I recently came across a paper by P.H. Rolfs in the 1935 Florida State Horticultural Society’s Annual Proceedings. It gave credit to J.A. Stevens for the first Florida Citrus Seminar in 1910 or 1911. It was held in “the old dormitory, Thomas Hall. There were no set lectures, simply laboratory demonstrations and explanations. The first call …
California CRaFT Project Targets Psyllids
All commercial citrus producers in California are invited to apply for participation in the Citrus Research Board’s (CRB) California-focused Citrus Research and Field Trials (CA-CRaFT) project. The overarching goal of CA-CRaFT is to demonstrate the effects of additional mitigations on Asian citrus psyllid control within commercial citrus groves across the various citrus-growing regions in California. The project is supported by …
OJ Magnate Cutrale Dies
Fundecitrus reported that Brazilian orange juice magnate José Luis Cutrale died Aug. 17 in London, England. Fundecitrus issued the following comments: “José Luis Cutrale worked in several areas of activity: in the commercialization of fruits, in the cultivation of citrus and in the orange juice industry. “With his very high level of entrepreneurship, he raised the name of Brazil internationally, …
Focused on Finding Solutions
By Michael Rogers As we approach a new citrus-growing season, the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) researchers and Extension agents working throughout the state renew their focus on finding solutions that growers can use in the short term to sustain their operations. While we value our longer-term research projects, efforts that provide tangible applications that …
Global Citrus Production Is Up in All Categories
Brazil, China and Mexico are the top producers. Brazil easily continues to lead the world in orange and orange juice (OJ) production, while China dominates in production of tangerines/mandarins and grapefruit. Mexico remains the leading producer of lemons and limes. These facts come from a July report on world citrus issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service. …
More Orange and OJ Production in South Africa
The production of oranges in South Africa is estimated to grow by 6% to 1.6 million metric tons (MMT) in 2021–22, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA/FAS) recently reported. The area planted with oranges is expected to continue its stable growth rate, expanding by 2% to 47,750 hectares in 2021–22. Limpopo province is the leading growing region …
Orange and OJ Production Rise in Turkey
Orange and orange juice (OJ) production levels in Turkey are forecast to be higher in 2021–22 than in 2020–21, according to a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA/FAS) update. Orange production is now expected to be 1.75 million metric tons (MMT), compared to 1.3 MMT the prior year. OJ production is projected at 10,000 metric tons (MT) …
Sneak Peek: August 2022 Citrus Industry
As growers prepare for the 2022–23 season, August is the perfect time to review what’s new in the citrus industry. The Citrus & Specialty Crop Expo on Aug. 17–18 in North Fort Myers is the ideal venue to get the latest research updates while learning about new products and services. There’s no better place for industry leaders, growers, researchers and …
A Transformative Program
By J. Scott Angle Morgan McKenna always knew she’d return home some day. Three previous generations of McKennas hadn’t just made a living from citrus. They’d made a life of it. It’s a life she wanted, too. Morgan saw the family business as family first and business second. She was most interested in the emotional rewards of coming home to …
PIECES OF THE PAST: Above and Beyond
By Brenda Eubanks Burnette Lena Smithers Hughes was born on a farm near Elgin, Tennessee, and helped to raise her seven siblings after her mother died when she was 14. She started teaching school at age 17, while still a student at Tennessee Tech, and went on to earn her degree from the University of Tennessee. In 1931, she and …
South African Lemons and Limes to Reach Record Production
Production of lemons and limes in South Africa will grow by 7% to a historic high of 670,000 metric tons (MT) in 2021–22, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA/FAS) recently estimated. In 2020–21, South Africa produced 626,791 MT of the fruit. PLANTED AREAThe area planted with lemons and limes grew more than threefold over the past 10 …
Grapefruit in Turkey: Production Up, Acreage Down
Turkey is forecast to produce 249,000 metric tons (MT) of grapefruit in 2021–22, up 5% over the prior year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA/FAS) reported. The increased production is due to better yields resulting from favorable weather conditions in the Mediterranean growing region, USDA/FAS stated in its semi-annual report on Turkish citrus. Improved yields have allowed …
Pay Attention to pH for Best Nutrient Uptake
There 17 essential elements that plants need to grow. Three of those elements come to plants via water and the atmosphere. The 14 other elements come from fertilizer applications. Almost all of those are dependent on soil pH to determine how well they are picked up by plants’ root systems. Getting the soil pH just right was discussed in the …
Seminar Schedule Announced for Citrus & Specialty Crop Expo
Growers and industry leaders should mark their calendars for this year’s Citrus & Specialty Crop Expo scheduled for Aug. 17–18 at the Lee Civic Center in North Fort Myers, Florida. Complimentary registration is available for all growers, packers, shippers, processors, association members and university researchers. Josh McGill, show director, discusses why industry members should attend this year’s event. “We’re really …
South African Mandarin Production Boosted by Netting
There is a growing trend of South African mandarin growers aggressively establishing new orchards under netting, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA/FAS) recently reported. The practice has improved water efficiency, yields and the overall quality of fruit, USDA/FAS says in its semi-annual South Africa citrus report. USDA/FAS says the production of tangerines/mandarins in South Africa is anticipated …
Turkey’s Lemon Production Climbs
Fresh lemon production in Turkey for 2021–22 was recently forecast at 1.33 million metric tons (MMT) in an update by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA/FAS). That’s an increase of about 22% over expected prior year production of 1.1 MMT. Growers are expanding the area of their lemon orchards in part because lemons are more profitable than …





























