Sneak Peek: January 2024 Citrus Industry

Tacy CalliesSneak Peek

The January issue of Citrus Industry magazine rings in the new year with positive news! Find out how one Florida grower is producing up to 500 boxes per acre. Matt Machata tells how he rehabilitated his family’s groves in Lake Wales. He shares the details of his dry fertilizer and foliar application schedules. Attention to nutrition, irrigation and soil health …

PIECES OF THE PAST: Gratitude for Growing Florida Citrus

Tacy CalliesPieces of the Past

By Brenda Eubanks Burnette December is always a favorite month for me. It’s a time to reflect on the trials and tribulations from the past year and a time to be thankful for the blessings in our lives that have brought us through difficulties. December brings anticipation for the upcoming year and what lies ahead. For citrus growers, December also …

texas

Alabama Designated as Commercial Citrus Producer

Tacy CalliesDiseases, Regulation

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) announced it has designated Alabama as a commercial citrus-producing area. This action provides Alabama with protections that are afforded under the citrus canker regulations applying to commercial citrus-producing states. USDA APHIS regulates the interstate movement of certain plants, plant parts and other articles from areas of the …

Chilean Citrus Exports Soar

Tacy CalliesExport, International

Chilean citrus exports in the 2023 season increased 48% over the previous season, and 16% over the average of the last three seasons, the Chilean Citrus Committee reported. A total of 395,889 tons have been exported, of which 15.5% were clementines, 43.7% mandarins, 23.7% oranges and 17.1% lemons. U.S. IS TOP MARKETThe United States was the main destination market, receiving …

Court Disallows Use of Streptomycin on Citrus

Tacy CalliesLegal, Pesticides

The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Dec. 13 reversed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) approval of the antibiotic streptomycin as a pesticide on citrus crops. See the ruling here. The court determined the EPA’s 2021 decision to allow spraying of streptomycin on citrus crops across the country to be unlawful under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act …

Florida Citrus: The Road Back

Tacy CalliesEconomics, Florida

By Tom Spreen The Florida citrus industry has experienced a difficult stretch of years since the record crop year of 2003–04, when over 240 million 90-pound boxes of oranges were produced. INDUSTRY DECLINEIn 2004, multiple hurricanes crisscrossed the Florida peninsula. They were the first hurricanes to hit the citrus-producing area of Florida since Hurricane Dora in 1964. The hurricanes themselves …

Florida citrus

IPCs on More Than a Million Florida Citrus Trees

Daniel CooperIPCs

As recently as five years ago, Florida citrus growers did not routinely put individual protective covers (IPCs) on their trees as part of their grove management. Now, the mesh IPCs cover at least 1 million trees on about 17,000 acres, mostly thanks to experimentation by University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) researcher Fernando Alferez. IPCs keep …

monitoring

Improved Monitoring of Citrus Maturity

Daniel CooperInternational, Research

A new approach developed primarily by Chinese researchers allows for more precise monitoring of citrus fruit development and optimal harvest timing. A key to improving citrus fruit quality and post-harvest processes is understanding citrus color change, a critical indicator of fruit maturity that is traditionally gauged by human judgment. Recent machine vision and neural network advancements offer more objective and …

hall of fame

Florida Citrus Hall of Fame Inductees Named for 2024

Daniel CooperAwards

The Florida Citrus Hall of Fame has announced its Class of 2024 inductees. They are Robert M. “Bob” Behr of New Smyrna Beach, George H. Streetman of Vero Beach and Leland K. Young, formerly of Bartow. They will be inducted March 1, 2024, along with the Class of 2023 inductees. The induction ceremonies and a luncheon will be held at …

citrus forecast

Improvements to Florida Citrus Forecast

Daniel CooperCrop Forecast, Florida

In the Dec. 8 citrus forecast from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA NASS), Florida’s grapefruit and tangerine/tangelo production estimates increased. The all-grapefruit forecast for Florida leaped 26% compared to the season’s initial forecast in October. The state’s tangerine and tangelo forecast climbed 10%. All other variety forecasts in the citrus-producing states — Arizona, California, Florida …

alico

Alico Citrus Production Declines 51%

Daniel Cooperfinancial, Industry News Release

Alico Citrus, a division of Alico, Inc., harvested less than half its citrus in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2023 as it did in the prior year. The decline was largely the result of impacts from Hurricane Ian in September 2022. Alico has approximately 49,000 citrus acres in seven Florida counties. The company reported on Dec. 6 that it …

climate

Heat Wave in Brazil Concerns Citrus Growers

Daniel CooperBrazil, Production, Weather

According to the Center for Advanced Studies on Applied Economics (CEPEA), a new heat wave in Brazil’s São Paulo state has been concerning citrus growers. Temperatures are higher than those registered in the last wave in September and are lasting longer. Many producers say that the weather may affect 2024–25 production, but it is still too early to estimate possible …

impacts

Potential Climate Change Impacts on South American and South African Citrus

Daniel CooperInternational, Weather

Like most speakers in a recent World Citrus Organisation (WCO) climate change discussion, those addressing South America and South Africa focused on potential impacts rather than already observed impacts. SOUTH AMERICA “Whether we are negationist or pro-climate change, we should agree that something wrong is occurring in our sector,” stated a slide from Oscar Salgado, an agricultural engineer and fruit …

phytophthora

Phytophthora Diseases in California Citrus

Daniel CooperCalifornia Corner, Diseases

Greg Douhan with University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UCANR) recently wrote about phytophthora diseases in California citrus. Edited excerpts follow: There are at least four species of Phytophthora species (P. citrophthora, P. parasitica, P. syringae and P. hibernalis) associated with citrus in California. The three diseases in citrus caused by these fungal-like pathogens are phytophthora root rot, phytophthora …

evaporative cooling

Avoid Evaporative Cooling in Citrus Freeze Protection

Daniel Cooperfreeze, Weather

Both University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) speakers at a Nov. 28 winter weather workshop warned about the risk of evaporative cooling when using irrigation to protect citrus from freezing temperatures. Microsprinkler irrigation has been the main form of cold protection for Florida citrus for at least the last five decades.     The need to understand evaporative …

areas

Fundecitrus Repudiates Articles About Citrus Greening

Daniel CooperBrazil, Citrus Greening

Fundecitrus says it repudiates recent articles that claim productivity in Brazil’s São Paulo and Minas Gerais citrus belt will be reduced by 60% in the next five years due to citrus greening disease. Fundecitrus says Chilean and Spanish news portals published such reports on Nov. 14.  According to Fundecitrus, this information is not valid, nor was it ever provided by …

citrus production

U.S. Citrus Production in 2022–23: Winners and Losers

Daniel CooperProduction

The U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service’s (USDA/NASS) final estimates for the 2022–23 season show U.S. citrus production reaching 4.9 million tons, down 12% from 2021–22. This marks the lowest combined production levels for U.S. citrus in at least 50 years. The U.S. citrus crop was valued at $2.6 billion in 2022–23, 13.5% below the prior year’s value. …

december

Sneak Peek: December 2023 Citrus Industry

Daniel CooperAcreage, HLB Management, Sneak Peek

It’s no secret that Florida’s citrus industry has seen significant shrinkage since the advent of citrus greening in the state. In the December issue of Citrus Industry magazine, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) economist Ariel Singerman takes an in-depth look at the acreage attrition. He examines the figures by county over the past 20 years. …

climate change

Climate Change Impacts Mediterranean Citrus

Daniel CooperInternational, Production, Weather

Turkey’s citrus industry has already experienced effects from climate change, Okan Ozkaya, professor at Cukurova University, reported in a recent World Citrus Organisation (WCO) presentation. His presentation was titled Impact of Climate Change in the Citrus Sector in Turkey and the Broader Eastern Mediterranean Area. “Climate change has been a scenario for many years, but we started to see the …

june

All In For Citrus Podcast, November 2023

Daniel CooperAll In For Citrus Podcast, HLB Management, International

Michael Rogers, the director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center, and some of his colleagues recently attended the Asian Citrus Congress in India. During the November All In For Citrus podcast, Rogers discusses what was learned and observed on the trip. While many of India’s citrus groves are small-scale …