Alico Sells 10,702 Acres to State of Florida

Ernie NeffAcreage

Alico, Inc. on Sept. 11 announced the state of Florida purchased, under the Florida Forever program, approximately 10,702 acres of Alico Ranch for $28.5 million. The transaction was pursuant to an option agreement between the state of Florida and Alico. John Kiernan, Alico president and chief executive officer, said the acreage was on the west side of the ranch. “This is …

stormwater

BMPs Impacted by New Florida Water Act

Ernie NeffBMPs

Florida’s new Clean Waterways Act impacts agricultural landowners and producers enrolled in the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) Best Management Practices (BMPs) program. The act went into effect July 1. FDACS is required to undertake implementation verification (IV) site visits on properties enrolled in the BMP program every two years. During these IV site visits, FDACS Office …

Florida’s Gift Fruit Industry Remains Resilient

Tacy CalliesFresh

Gift fruit shippers occupy just a small niche in Florida citrus, but the sector’s value to the industry is more than annual sales. For anyone seeking a taste of Florida citrus, regardless of where they are in the United States, gift fruit can be shipped with just a few clicks online or a simple telephone call to a Florida gift …

citrus crop forecast

New Economic Reports for Florida Citrus

Tacy CalliesEconomics

By Ariel Singerman Four reports summarizing Florida citrus industry survey-collected data during the 2019–2020 season are available at https://crec.ifas.ufl.edu/economics/. The reports include the average cost of production for processed oranges, harvesting charges, custom rate (or caretaking) charges and packing charges. The estimates presented in those reports, as well as those available for previous seasons, document the changes in the industry …

Florida Citrus Value Takes a Hit

Tacy CalliesEconomics

A new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report shows the value of the Florida citrus crop has substantially shrunk in the past year. The 2019–2020 Citrus Summary report was released by USDA’s National Agriculture Statistics Service on Aug. 26. It shows the $729 million preliminary on-tree value of the 2019–2020 citrus crop is 19 percent less than the $902 million …

FDOC

Florida Citrus Acres Declining

Tacy CalliesIndustry News Release

Florida’s struggling citrus industry is using nearly 50 percent fewer acres than 20 years ago, according to an annual end-of-season report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service Florida Field Office calculated 419,542 citrus acres in Florida as the 2019–2020 growing season ended in July. The acreage figure was down 3 percent from the …

Florida Hemp Program Setting the Bar High

Tacy CalliesAlternative Crops, Citrus Expo

Holly Bell, director of cannabis for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), gave an update on Florida’s hemp program as part of the Citrus Expo virtual general session. “Florida is becoming the leader in the country — if not the world — on how we’re getting our hemp program rolled out and the standards that we’re setting,” …

florida

Area-Wide Pest Management of Florida Citrus

Tacy CalliesHLB Management

Ariel Singerman, University of Florida assistant professor, made an online presentation during the recent Agricultural and Applied Economics Association annual meeting. He shared his research on the implementation of area-wide pest management throughout the state of Florida. “Diminishment of pest populations by farmers on their own farm is the most widely used strategy for pest control. However, this is compromised …

Steger Forecast for Florida Oranges

Ernie NeffForecast

Elizabeth Steger, president of Citrus Consulting International, has forecast Florida’s 2020-21 orange crop at 62 million boxes. That is 8.35 percent fewer oranges than the 67.65 million boxes the state produced last season. [See the final 2019-20 season forecast by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) here.] Steger has been forecasting the size of Florida’s orange crop prior to the …

The Future Faces of Florida Citrus

Tacy CalliesScholarship

Meet the four students who received the FMC Citrus Ag Production Scholarships. By Tacy Callies The FMC Citrus Ag Production Scholarships (CAPS) program, a partnership between AgNet Media and FMC, was created to support Florida citrus production and encourage interested youth to pursue careers in citrus. Two University of Florida students and two Florida Southern College students each were awarded …

hall

Seeking Industry Giants for Florida Ag Hall of Fame

Tacy CalliesAwards

Florida agriculture is filled with industry giants who have left a rich legacy of achievement, innovation and progress. The Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame, which honors those who have made significant contributions, is now accepting nominations for inductees. The online nomination form is available on the Florida Ag Hall of Fame website. Visit floridaaghalloffame.org and click on the “Nominate” tab. …

Growing Finger Limes in Florida: Lessons Learned So Far

Tacy CalliesLimes

By Manjul Dutt and Jude Grosser Finger lime, a distant relative of sweet orange and grapefruit, is a relatively new crop species for Florida. It is an Australian native species that has been gaining in popularity and importance in the last few years because of its unique fruit characteristics and disease tolerance, which sets it apart from conventional sweet orange …

New Insurance Options for Florida Citrus Growers

Ernie NeffInsurance

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA) recently announced a new crop insurance hurricane endorsement and an improved citrus crop insurance plan. The hurricane endorsement, Hurricane Insurance Protection – Wind Index (HIP-WI), covers a portion of growers’ underlying crop insurance policy deductible when their county is within or adjacent to the area of sustained hurricane-force winds. HIP-WI is …

snail

Snails Posing Problems in Florida Groves

Ernie NeffPests

A snail causing problems in Highlands County and South Florida groves “appears to be popping up all over the state,” said entomologist Lauren Diepenbrock. The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) researcher identified the snails as Bulimulus sporadicus. “It was first documented in Florida in 2009,” Diepenbrock said. “Citrus is not the only crop to be …

Court Rules in Favor of Florida’s Natural

Ernie NeffOrange Juice

A federal appeals court in New York has upheld the dismissal of a claim that Florida’s Natural Growers’ (FNG) use of the word “Natural” in its brand name was deceptive. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit made the ruling on May 29.   The appeals court held that the company’s use of the word “Natural” in its …

florida

Farmland Loss in Florida

Ernie NeffAcreage

A recent report by the American Farmland Trust (AFT) describes Florida as “one of the top 12 most threatened states in the nation due to the loss of farmland to poorly planned real estate development.” The report is called Farms Under Threat: The State of the States. See the AFT website, where state-by-state reports can be accessed. Between 2001 and …

Florida Grapefruit Decline in Final Forecast

Clint ThompsonCitrus, Florida

The U.S. Department of Agriculture released the final citrus crop forecast of the 2019-20 season on July 10. The only monthly change in Florida was in the grapefruit crop, which dipped slightly. Here’s a summary of the season’s production by variety and state: ORANGESThe Florida all-orange forecast remained unchanged at 67.65 million boxes, but is down 6 percent from last …

International Efforts to Market Florida Citrus

Ernie NeffMarketing

Samantha Lane, Florida Department of Citrus (FDOC) director of global marketing, recently discussed international marketing highlights for Florida citrus products during the 2019-20 season. CANADAIn Canada, highlights included fresh Florida orange programs with juicing demos in Ontario grocery stores. The programs resulted in a sales increase. Issues management work took place to educate registered dietitians on the health benefits of …

Florida Governor Leaves Citrus Funds Intact

Ernie NeffLegislative

Citrus industry priorities funded by the Florida Legislature were left intact when Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the state budget, Florida Citrus Mutual (FCM) Executive Vice President/CEO Mike Sparks recently reported. “As anticipated, there was the need to reduce spending significantly through the use of the line-item veto due to diminished revenue to the state resulting from the COVID-19 response,” Sparks …

New University of Florida Economist in Immokalee

Tacy CalliesEconomics, Industry News Release

Morgan graduated from the University of Florida three times. She earned a bachelor’s degree in animal sciences and then master’s and doctoral degrees in food and resource economics, all from the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Mostly recently, she began her position as associate professor of food and resource …