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Below you'll see everything we could locate for your search of “Growers”
Chlorpyrifos is being targeted again by environmental agencies. According to a press release from California Citrus Mutual (CCM), the California Environmental Protection Agency announced in mid-August that both California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) and the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment are pursuing new restrictions on chlorpyrifos. CCM says that chlorpyrifos is one of the most important and widely …
By Phil Stansly Impact on Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) populations: Psyllids that survived the storm will find plenty of food thanks to a huge flush that is following defoliation from the hurricane. This and almost ideal temperature conditions will spawn an explosion of ACP, starting with the first post-Irma generation less than three weeks after the storm. By five weeks and …
Just before Hurricane Irma whacked Florida, groves and crops appeared to be improving after years of losses from HLB, grower and Florida Citrus Commission Chairman Ellis Hunt Jr. says. Now, he adds, growers need federal aid to recover. “We had just finished our (crop) estimate and we were showing an increase in Lake Wales,” Hunt says. “Our groves looked noticeably …
In a Citrus Expo talk, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences entomologist Phil Stansly focused on the importance of continuing to spray psyllids in groves already infected with HLB. The main reason to do that, he says, is to keep psyllids from re-inoculating trees with HLB by “pumping more and more bacteria into that tree.” He …
By Jaci Schreckengost One of the topics researchers and growers discussed at the 2017 Organic Food & Farming Summit was what can be done organically to combat huanglongbing (HLB), also known as citrus greening disease. Florida Organic Growers hosted the summit in Gainesville. It featured many workshops in which researchers and growers could discuss challenges and management practices. Tripti Vashisth, …
Federal assistance for citrus growers in the wake of Hurricane Irma will be more problematic than following past hurricanes, Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam told the Florida Citrus Commission on Wednesday. He explains why and updates reports about damage to the citrus crop. “The simple change from 2004-05 is that Congress in the intervening years has taken away the discretion …
On September 18, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, Congressman Tom Rooney ad Senator Marco Rubio flew in a helicopter to get an aerial view of farm damage from Hurricane Irma. Described by Rubio as an “agriculture catastrophe,” the storm ravished many Florida crops. Since many Florida vegetables were not in the ground yet, they …
Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice asked for dismissal of the lawsuit by California lemon growers challenging a new import rule allowing Argentinian lemons into the United States. The U.S. Citrus Science Council (USCSC), representing approximately 750 family citrus farmers, filed the lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in federal district court in Fresno, California, earlier this …
By Skyler Simnitt, Gulcan Onel and Derek Farnsworth In an environment where citrus is still mainly harvested by hand and skilled domestic workers are harder to employ, employers increasingly rely on the H-2A guest-worker program to establish and retain a reliable and efficient workforce. It is estimated that guest workers now account for 80 percent or more of all citrus …
Unfortunately, Florida citrus did not fare well in Hurricane Irma. Lisa Lochridge, public affairs director for the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association, says from the reports that she has received, the largest produce impact was on the citrus industry. Hurricane Irma brought strong winds that stripped the fruit from many trees and caused major crop loss. Lochridge says uprooted trees …
A day after Hurricane Irma exited Florida, Ray Royce, executive director of the Highlands County Citrus Growers Association, said, “Early anecdotal estimates are that half to two-thirds of the crop is on the ground in our area.” He says that from the little bit he has been out and around in the Central Florida Ridge, he has not seen any …
Steve Smith, executive director of the Peace River Valley Citrus Growers Association, says he is getting a mixed bag of reports on Hurricane Irma damage from growers in his area. “Some growers are calling in with limited damage with a few pieces of fruit on the ground, and others are saying heavy damage and trees pushed over on the outside …
The Indian River area on the East Coast apparently fared the best of all Florida citrus-growing regions hit by Hurricane Irma. “I’m hearing the vast majority of the crop made it through,” says Indian River Citrus League Executive Vice President Doug Bournique. He thinks a maximum of 20 percent of the region’s crop was lost. Bournique says many groves remain …
A historical perspective and current conditions are key to understanding what will happen to the orange juice market in the future if HLB-resistant trees are introduced. By Allen Morris Between 2001–02 and 2016–17, the Nielsen-measured retail U.S. orange juice market declined by 50 percent, Florida orange production declined by 70 percent and retail orange juice prices increased by 53 percent …
By Fritz M. Roka The number of H-2A foreign guest workers employed in Florida’s agricultural operations has grown from 4,400 in 2009 to nearly 23,000 by the start of the 2015 citrus harvesting season, more than a five-fold increase (Figure 1). More H-2A workers came to Florida in 2015 than to any other state. Industry leaders estimate that more than …
At Citrus Expo in August, Premier Citrus President Tom Jerkins clarified comments about bactericides and their effectiveness that he made at the June Florida Citrus Mutual conference in Bonita Springs. “In Bonita Springs, I kind of stated publicly it was difficult for Premier to see a difference in the treated (with bactericides) versus untreated,” Jerkins says. “I said it was …
The threat of Hurricane Irma has been looming over Florida. Now, the state is roughly three to four days from facing the storm. While people prepare their hurricane kits, Florida citrus growers are doing what they can to protect their groves. However, at this point, very little can be done. Calvin Arnold, center director of the Southwest Florida Research and …
By Harold Browning Column sponsored by the Citrus Research and Development Foundation Use of bactericides to reduce disease levels in infected trees continues to be a topic of debate in Florida citrus. Now in the second season of grower use, many growers are continuing to use the three products containing oxytetracycline or streptomycin within their seasonal spray programs. The Citrus …
By Ariel Singerman, Marina Burani-Arouca, Stephen H. Futch and Robert Ranieri This article summarizes the charges for harvesting citrus in Florida during the 2016–17 season. The estimates provided are key for computing on-tree prices and to estimate economic returns to citrus growers. The estimates are based on a survey of harvesters conducted in May 2017. A total of 15 harvesters …
Echoing comments from growers in some citrus-growing regions in southern Florida, Highlands County citrus Extension agent Laurie Hurner says Highlands County appears to have more fruit and better tree health this year. “It’s interesting. You drive up and down Highway 27, and there is a lot more fruit out there, I think,” says Hurner, who is also the Highlands County …
