Two varieties that tolerate HLB and produce ample fruit yield and juice were the highlights of the recent Millennium Block Field Day in Fort Pierce, Florida. The 20-acre Millennium Block at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Indian River Research and Education Center (IRREC) examines fresh fruit varieties and rootstocks. “The two varieties that give …
How to Handle Extended Flowering in HLB Trees
By Tripti Vashisth University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) flower bud induction advisories for 2024–25 started on Nov. 25. The advisories will be posted bi-weekly until March 2025. The goal of the advisories is to provide growers and production managers with a complete overview of flowering prediction. Every advisory will aim to deliver recommendations for that …
Juice Maturity Standards Eased; Varieties Approved for Licensing
Update as of 12-2-24: For the period beginning 12:00 a.m. on Dec. 2, 2024, and ending at 11:59 p.m. on May 23, 2025, maturity standards in regard to ratio are suspended for all grapefruit including field run and eliminations. This emergency rule supersedes Emergency Rule 20ER24-4. At the request of Florida processor and grower associations, the Florida Citrus Commission (FCC) …
Brooke Rollins Tapped to Lead USDA
President-elect Donald Trump has selected Brooke Rollins to lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in his second term. Currently, Rollins serves as president and chief executive officer of the America First Policy Institute. Rollins was formerly director of the Domestic Policy Council and assistant to the president for Strategic Initiatives in the White House under President Donald Trump, where …
Large Grant to Aid Nursery Automation
Imagine a future where nurseries can effortlessly manage their plants with cutting-edge automation technologies, using potting or weed-spraying robots instead of having to dig each hole or spray each pot by hand. With the help of a $9.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture, this vision is becoming a reality. The University …
U.S. House Chairs Ask for H-2A Effectiveness Evaluation
Two U.S. House of Representatives committee chairs recently sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) asking it to evaluate the effectiveness of the H-2A visa program. The letter was sent by Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx of North Carolina and Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson of Pennsylvania. The H-2A visa program, widely used in agriculture, …
Improved Method for Evaluation of Canopy Density
The American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) journal HortScience recently published an article that describes a simple, low-cost method for accurate canopy evaluation of citrus. The authors are Taylor Livingston, Amit Levy and Tripti Vashisth of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Citrus Research and Education Center. A summary of the article follows. Citrus cultivation presents …
Positive Early Harvest Reports
Sponsored Content In this special series, Tom Johnson, owner of TJ BioTech, tackles questions on trunk-injection applications to treat HLB. Q: Are there any 2024–25 early harvest reports that have come from citrus growers using ReMedium TI®? Tom Johnson: Yes. There are several reports, but some of the numbers still need to be confirmed before they are reported. However, I …
Florida Growers Reminded to Complete State of Industry Survey
The 2024 Florida Citrus State of the Industry Survey will provide a current view of the status of the state’s citrus industry. Among the topics covered in this year’s survey are hurricane impacts and the use of trunk-injection therapies to improve the health of HLB-infected trees. If you are a grower or a consultant/caretaker (who can answer generally on behalf …
California Announces Oriental Fruit Fly Quarantine
A portion of California’s Orange County has been placed under quarantine for the Oriental fruit fly. The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) reported the quarantine Nov. 6. It followed the detection of eight flies in and around the cities of Santa Ana and Garden Grove. The quarantine zone measures 87 square miles. It is bordered on the north …
New Flame Grapefruit Selection Offers Improved HLB Tolerance
By Manjul Dutt, Sheetal Ramekar and Gary England The grapefruit was created by chance from a cross between a pummelo and a sweet orange. It was first discovered in Barbados in the 18th century. All the commercially sold grapefruits today trace their roots back to the Duncan variety of grapefruit. Cultivars existing today were developed through natural and induced mutations …
Grower Meeting Features Trunk-Injection Results and Hurricane Relief
Florida Citrus Mutual hosted a grower informational meeting on Nov. 13 at Kenny and Cookie Sanders’ Grove House in Zolfo Springs. About 80 citrus growers gathered for the event to hear more about the latest research on trunk-injection therapy and discuss recovery efforts after Hurricane Milton. Ute Albrecht, associate professor of plant physiology with the University of Florida Institute of …
Field Day Featured Favorable Fresh Fruit Rootstock and Scion Combinations
The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Indian River Research and Education Center recently hosted a field day showcasing its Millennium Block citrus grove. The field day went on despite the grove being impacted by a tornado associated with Hurricane Milton in October. The Millennium Block is one of the largest experimental trials examining fresh fruit …
UF/IFAS Colleagues Laud Lukas Hallman
University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) colleagues have acknowledged Lukas Hallman for his distinguished achievements and contributions as a graduate student. Hallman completed master’s and doctoral degrees in horticultural sciences in the last six years as a UF/IFAS graduate research assistant. He worked in Associate Professor Lorenzo Rossi’s Plant Root Biology Laboratory at the Indian River …
Increased Yields Are Significant Return on Investment
Sponsored Content In this special series, Tom Johnson, owner of TJ BioTech, tackles questions about optimizing trunk-injection applications to treat HLB. Q: How is ReMedium TI® performing in the fight against citrus greening? Tom Johnson: The reported overall performance of ReMedium TI® has been stellar over the last two years. The reports from the second year of injections are just …
Rain Brings Relief but Brazil Orange Quality Still Low
Regular rains and mild weather in Brazil’s Citrus Belt of São Paulo and Triângulo Mineiro in late October brought relief for trees affected by prior lack of rain and high temperatures. The better weather may improve the quality of fruit that is still on the trees. But even with the return of rainfall, the 2024–25 orange crop has presented low …
Brazil’s Harvest+ Project Increases Harvesters’ Income
Brazilian citrus farming faces several challenges, including the shortage of labor to harvest the fruit and the efficiency and performance of the harvesters’ work. The Harvest+ project, created by Fundecitrus, seeks to improve the harvest process through improvements in manual harvesting and promoting mechanized and semi-mechanized solutions. One result achieved by the project is a 7% increase in the daily …
California HLB Quarantine Expanded
Agricultural officials recently expanded the areas in California quarantined for citrus greening disease [also known as huanglongbing (HLB)], which is spread by Asian citrus psyllids. The quarantined area in Orange and Riverside counties was increased by a total of approximately 31 square miles. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) in cooperation with the …
Apply Brassinosteroids to Improve Hamlin Brix
By Fernando Alferez and Divya Aryal Brassinosteroids (BRs) are a class of plant growth regulators with several effects on plant growth and development. University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) work in the last few years has shown that BR treatments may influence internal maturity in Hamlin sweet orange if performed at the right time. Research has …
Ongoing Research Shows the Promise of Trunk-Injection Therapy
Trunk injection of oxytetracycline (OTC) has been the center of attention in Florida citrus for the past two years since the Environmental Protection Agency registered formulations of the material for use. But experience with antibiotics in Florida citrus is not new. That was part of the message Lukasz Stelinski delivered to attendees of the Citrus & Specialty Crop Expo in …



















