John Gose: Serving Youth and Industry

Tacy CalliesCitrus

Ray Royce readily acknowledges grower and nurseryman John Gose’s many contributions to the Florida citrus industry, including serving “on way too many advisory committees to list.” Gose has even been president of the Highlands County Citrus Growers Association, where Royce is executive director. PROGRAM LEADERSHIPBut it’s not Gose’s work with growers that most impresses the association executive. “I always think …

gift

Give the Gift of Citrus This Holiday Season

Tacy CalliesTip of the Week

By Ruth Borger Sending boxes of Florida citrus across the country to friends and family during the holidays is a beloved tradition. But it is important to work with a certified grower/gift shipper as it is illegal in Florida for individuals to send citrus via the mail or delivery services. You can find a list of Florida gift fruit shippers …

Texas Research Should Help With HLB

Ernie NeffHLB Management, Research

Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientists have made a discovery that should help combat fastidious or “unculturable” pathogens, such as Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, the HLB causal agent. HLB is also known as citrus greening disease. Kranthi Mandadi, a researcher with Texas A&M, and his colleagues have been working several years on developing new technologies to fight the fastidious pathogens. Mandadi and …

UF/IFAS Collaborates on HLB Research

Ernie NeffResearch

Several University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) faculty are collaborating with other universities and organizations on research, especially for HLB. Michael Rogers, director of the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC), summarizes the work they are doing on a variety of grant-funded projects. Rogers starts with a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-funded project led by …

Things to Be Thankful for This Year

Tacy CalliesTip of the Week

By Ruth Borger Despite 2020 being a challenging year with a lot to complain about, there are many things to be thankful for. This is the time of year to take a few minutes to reflect on what we have to be grateful for. Here are just a few things to be thankful for that come quickly to mind. A …

Research Update on Individual Protective Covers

Tacy CalliesPests

By Fernando Alferez, Susmita Gaire, Ute Albrecht, Ozgur Batuman, Jawwad Qureshi and Mongi Zekri It has been nearly three years since the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) started its studies on individual protective covers (IPCs). The objective of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of IPCs as a strategy to prevent HLB infection of …

citrus

All In For Citrus Podcast, November 2020

Taylor HillmanAll In For Citrus Podcast, Sponsored Content

The November episode of the All In For Citrus podcast covers a multitude of grant-funded research that the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) citrus team both leads and collaborates on. Citrus Research and Education Center Director Michael Rogers begins the podcast with a discussion on research projects UF/IFAS scientists are playing critical roles in collaborative …

SWFREC Recognizes Growers During Farm-City Week

Ernie NeffAgriculture

Nov. 18-25 is National Farm-City Week, a time to recognize and honor the contributions of the country’s agriculturalists and to strengthen the bond between urban and rural citizens. The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Southwest Florida Research and Education Center (SWFREC) took the opportunity to recognize the agriculturists in its area. Some of its statements …

Harnessing the Power of Soil Microbes

Tacy CalliesSoil Improvement

Although often ignored due to their intangible nature, microorganisms play significant roles in agriculture. The natural microbial processes allow for long-lasting interactions between nutrients, plants and soils. Masanori Fujimoto, assistant professor at the University of Florida, is leading a research and education project titled “Harnessing Microbes for Sustainable Food Production.” The project is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s …

nematodes

Controls for Sting Nematodes

Ernie NeffPests

Larry Duncan provides updates on the damage done by sting nematodes and research into controlling them with nematicides and perennial peanut as a cover crop. Duncan is a University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) nematologist at the Citrus Research and Education Center. Sting nematodes have become a “real issue” for Florida growers in the past five …

citrus

Get Florida Freeze Updates With Winter Weather Watch

Tacy CalliesTip of the Week, Weather

By Chris Oswalt There was a time back in 1962, on Dec. 12 and 13, when a devastating freeze in Florida decimated a significant portion of the state’s citrus industry. In Polk County, the freeze caused serious damage to 134,000 acres of citrus. In 1963, citrus growers were concerned about receiving timely weather information and frost warning bulletins. Back then, …

Genome Sequencing and Other UF Research

Ernie NeffAll In For Citrus Podcast

Michael Rogers discusses the importance of the recent sequencing of the trifoliate orange genome by University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) researchers and others. He also tells how growers can learn more about UF/IFAS research funded by the Florida Legislature. Rogers is director of the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC) in Lake Alfred and …

Strong Growth for Citrus Water Market

Ernie NeffMarket

The global citrus water market is projected to reflect strong growth in 2020 in spite of the widespread coronavirus outbreak. While lockdown restrictions have limited demand from the food-service sector, lucrative opportunities have arisen for the short-term owing to the demand for functional beverages during the crisis period. A recent report by Future Market Insights indicates that demand for the …

Survey on Water and Technology Use

Ernie NeffTechnology, Water

University of Florida (UF) researchers are conducting a survey to study smart agriculture technology acceptance and adoption behavior of Florida specialty crop growers, specifically growers of crops requiring regular irrigation. Adam Watson, an assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, and doctoral candidate Raminder Kaur are requesting the information. The survey requests feedback on growers’ use of …

nutrition

CRDF Addresses Plant Improvement, Budget

Ernie NeffCRDF

Citrus Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) directors recently received an update on planned rootstock field trials and discussed the organization’s budget, CRDF Chief Operating Officer Rick Dantzler reported. ROOTSTOCK TRIALSThe new rootstock trials will be overseen by CRDF’s Select Committee on Plant Improvement, which met on Oct. 22 with citrus grower John Gose as chairman. Dantzler said the field trials …

Proving COVID-19 Isn’t Foodborne

Ernie NeffCOVID-19, Food Safety

When the COVID-19 pandemic became news in the United States early this year, some consumers and others wondered if it might be spread by food or food packaging. Food scientist Michelle Danyluk says there is no epidemiological evidence that COVID-19 is spread that way. “But epidemiological evidence isn’t the same as hard science data,” she adds. Consequently, she and other …

Emerging Trunk Disorders

Tacy CalliesDiseases

By Evan Johnson and Megan Dewdney The last two years have seen increasing grower questions and reports of citrus trunk disorders in Florida. Sometimes these reports are associated with sudden tree collapse. In many cases, phytophthora foot rot is initially suspected. Typically, the symptoms don’t quite match those of foot rot, and phytophthora cannot be isolated from the lesion. If …

UF/IFAS Gets $4.5M to Continue HLB Fight

Ernie NeffHLB Management

Three teams of scientists from the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) recently received nearly $4.5 million in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) funds to study new ways to manage HLB. The funding is part of the $45 million in grants the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Emergency Citrus Disease Research and Extension Program …

orange

FDOC Offers 2020-21 Citrus Season Outlook

Ernie NeffEconomics

Florida Department of Citrus (FDOC) economist Marisa Zansler recently broke down the expected utilization of the 57 million boxes of oranges Florida is forecast to produce in the 2020-21 season. She also offered projections for utilization of grapefruit and specialty fruit, and made other economic projections in her outlook for the season. ORANGESAbout 96 percent of the orange crop is …

hlb

USDA Grants $45 Million for HLB Research

Ernie NeffResearch

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA) recently awarded 12 grants totaling more than $45 million for research to combat HLB. “USDA-NIFA’s Emergency Citrus Disease Research and Extension Program (ECDRE) brings the nation’s top scientists together to tackle this problem,” said Parag Chitnis, NIFA’s acting director. Following are the 12 ECDRE projects funded by USDA-NIFA …