During our quick ag tour last week with Max Armstrong and his television crew for “This Week in Agribusiness,” we spent some time with Fred Gmitter in one of the experimental plots at University of Florida’s Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred. We posted this interview as part of that tour series, but we’re reposting it here to …
AgNet Hosts ‘This Week in Agribusiness’ — An Epilogue
By Gary Cooper AgNet Media Founder and President I recently connected with Max Armstrong, host of the nationally syndicated “This Week in Agribusiness” television program, for a fast-paced rural area and farm tour in Central Florida. It turned out to be a great opportunity for all involved, especially for Florida, which deserves more and better national media attention as an …
Dual Treatment Tested for HLB Trees
Severe pruning combined with enhanced foliar nutrition did not prove cost-effective. By Monica Ozores-Hampton, Fritz Roka, Robert Rouse and Pamela Roberts Citrus trees affected by huanglongbing (HLB) become diminished, weak and develop dieback resulting in reduced production. Decline in fruit yield ultimately prevents economically acceptable commercial citrus production. Pruning and spraying foliar nutritionals are two practices being considered to restore …
AgNet Hosts ‘This Week in Agribusiness’ — A Citrus Update
By Gary Gooper AgNet Media Founder and President Editor’s note: Read the prologue to this article. This week, I accompanied television program host and anchor Max Armstrong of the nationally-syndicated ag news program “This Week in Agribusiness” to guide him on a quick tour of Central Florida and help bring his audience up to date on the Florida citrus situation. …
AgNet Hosts ‘This Week in Agribusiness’ — A Prologue
By Gary Cooper AgNet Media Founder and President During a fast-paced day and a half earlier this week, I connected with Max Armstrong, host and anchor of the national farm news television program “This Week in Agribusiness” to help him with a whirlwind newsgathering tour of Central Florida agriculture. The syndicated television program airs weekly on RFD-TV and approximately 100-plus …
Citrus Expo Season Has Started
Online pre-registration is now open for the 2017 Citrus Expo. The 26th annual event will take place August 16-17 at the Lee Civic Center in North Fort Myers, Florida. The theme of this year’s Citrus Expo seminar program will be Challenge, Change and Opportunity. By attending the seminars, growers will be able to earn continuing education units toward a Florida …
UF-Developed Mandarin Shows Increased HLB Tolerance
by Brad Buck, University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences While citrus greening disease has blemished the Florida industry, University of Florida scientists have developed a mandarin hybrid that seems to be winning the battle. Now, researchers are learning what makes this fruit a fighter. University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) researchers have discovered that a mandarin …
Best and Worst Ways to Control Psyllids
Kirsten Pelz-Stelinski, a University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences entomologist, reports on the psyllid control methods that produce the best and worst results: “We looked at abandoned (groves); intermittently managed (groves), which we considered to be five or fewer insecticide sprays per year; we looked at organically managed groves; and we looked at what we called conventionally managed …
May Citrus Crop Forecast Has Small Changes
Mark Hudson of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service issued the May 2017 citrus crop forecast. Florida forecast: United States forecast: Florida Oranges All Oranges The 2016-2017 Florida all-orange forecast is up 1 million boxes to 68 million boxes. The total includes 33 million boxes of the non-Valencia oranges (early, midseason, and Navel varieties) and 35 …
An Update on UF/IFAS-Grower Citrus Nutrition Trials
By Tripti Vashisth Mineral nutrition plays an essential role in a plant’s life cycle and is critical for its growth and development. Since the early 19th century, the importance of mineral nutrition for plants has been recognized, and fertilization has become an important aspect of crop production. At least 17 mineral nutrients are considered essential for plants. These include carbon, …
USDA Citrus Crop Forecast
The next USDA citrus crop forecast for the 2024-25 season is scheduled to be released at 12:00 noon Eastern Time/9:00 a.m. Pacific Time on March 11, 2024. You will be able to tune in and hear the numbers as they are given by the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service. AgNet Media is on Mixlr Please click on …
UF-Developed Tools to Help Cope with Weather
by Brad Buck University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Florida weather is unpredictable. While you cannot control the weather, you can use UF/IFAS-developed weather databases to improve farming, home irrigation and flood control. Researchers with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) have written a new Extension document that summarizes several weather data …
Two Big Psyllid Questions Answered
Michael Rogers with the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) says growers frequently ask him two questions. One is whether they need to continue to control HLB-spreading Asian citrus psyllids even though HLB is widespread in Florida. The other is about the best time to spray for psyllids. Rogers, an entomologist and director of the UF/IFAS …
European Union Trade Breakthrough for U.S. Citrus
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and Acting U.S. Trade Representative Stephen Vaughn announced that the European Union (EU) has amended its requirements for imports of U.S. citrus. Specifically, the EU has dropped its requirement that U.S. groves be surveyed for citrus canker, which eases entry of U.S. citrus into the EU market and saves growers millions of dollars in …
Controlled-Release Fertilizer Boosts Health of HLB Trees (Part 2)
By Pete Spyke, Joby Sherrod and Jude Grosser Part 1 of this article, published in the April 2017 issue of Citrus Industry magazine, provided some background information on controlled-release fertilizer (CRF) along with a discussion of practical applications in citrus production. This article, part 2, includes summaries of observations from several case studies in which CRF has been applied for …
Putnam, Graham Gear Up for Governor’s Race
By Dara Kam and Lloyd Dunkelberger The News Service of Florida Ending months of speculation, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam filed papers Monday to run for governor in 2018. The Republican’s entree into the race to succeed Gov. Rick Scott, forced to leave office next year because of term limits, was little more than a formality. Putnam, a former congressman …
Brassinosteroid and Nutrient Uptake Studies for HLB
Tripti Vashisth, a University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences horticulturist, reports on brassinosteroid and nutrient uptake studies aimed at alleviating HLB symptoms. She reported on these studies at a recent HLB Grower Day summarizing scientific presentations made at an international HLB research conference. The brassinosteroid (a plant growth regulator) study was conducted at the University of Havana in …
Psyllids: Windbreaks, Grove Orientation and Tree Planting
Populations of HLB-spreading psyllids in groves can be impacted by windbreaks, grove orientation and whether new plantings are resets or solid settings. So says Kirsten Pelz-Stelinski, an entomologist with the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. “Windbreaks are one of the best things that you can do in terms of protecting the grove,” Pelz-Stelinski says. She says …
Insight on Improved Management of HLB-Affected Trees
Recent studies shed light on foliar nutrient and irrigation practices. By Kelly T. Morgan and Said Hamido Most citrus growers are well aware that citrus greening (HLB) is one of the most devastating citrus diseases in many parts of the world. The disease is widespread in Florida, Texas, Brazil, Mexico and other major production areas, causing significant concerns about the …
CREC and FDOC: Decades of Working Together
As the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC) celebrates its 100th anniversary, administrators are praising a decades-long relationship between researchers with CREC and the Florida Department of Citrus (FDOC). “Housing the FDOC and CREC scientists at the same location has brought together the expertise needed to address any issue facing the …