The Many Hats of Allen Morris

Tacy CalliesCitrus, Economics

By Tacy Callies Having grown up in the small north Florida town of Macclenny, a farming community, Allen Morris was introduced to agriculture at an early age. His father died in a tractor accident when Morris was seven, but that didn’t deter him from wanting to earn a living in agriculture. In fact, at 14, he obtained a restricted driver’s …

Managing the Health and Productivity of HLB-Affected Groves

Tacy CalliesHLB Management

By Tripti Vashisth In 2005, huanglongbing (HLB or citrus greening disease) was first discovered in Florida. Florida orange production changed from 242 million boxes in the pre-hurricane, pre-HLB, 2003–2004 season to 81.5 million boxes in 2015–2016. This dramatic reduction in yield is attributable to multiple causes, including a reduction in citrus acreage, citrus canker and other citrus diseases. HLB is …

Guest Workers: Past, Present and the Future

Josh McGillLabor

By Gülcan Önel and Derek Farnsworth The U.S. agricultural sector has a long history of dependence on foreign workers, and the Florida citrus industry is no exception. Even though mechanical harvesting systems saw increased usage between 1999 and 2006, the discovery of citrus greening in 2005 and its subsequent spread across Florida virtually eliminated mechanical harvesting efforts by 2015 in …

EPA Approves KPHITE® RX Systemic Bactericide for HLB Control

Tacy CalliesBactericides

Florida-based Plant Food Systems announced that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved the use of KPHITE® RX Systemic Bactericide for the control of HLB or citrus greening. The approval was granted based on research conducted by a panel of researchers demonstrating that the use of KPHITE® RX and Renew® RX reduces the effects of greening on citrus crops. Further field …

Bactericide Survey Results Summary

Josh McGillBactericides, Citrus Greening

By Stephanie Slinski and Harold Browning (Editor’s note: Click on the graphs throughout the article to enlarge them.) Bactericides have been available to growers as a new tool to improve the health of HLB-infected trees since early March 2016. This use has been under a crisis declaration from the Florida commissioner of agriculture, but on August 15 of this year, …

Senator Rubio: ‘If We Don’t Have Replanting, We’re Going to Lose the Industry’

Kelsey FryAgriculture, Citrus, Citrus Greening, Legislative

On July 21, 2016, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) visited the Lakeland area to tour a citrus grove affected by citrus greening.  Sen. Rubio was joined by Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam. They visited Gapway Groves in Auburndale to meet growers and industry leaders to discuss the grave problem facing Florida’s citrus industry. Rubio and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) …

IndexBox Marketing: Orange Market in Crisis

Kelsey FryCitrus, Citrus Greening

According to a report by IndexBox Marketing, the orange market is in crisis.  One of the main reasons is the citrus greening disease, widespread in the key centers of orange cultivation. This is why a reduction of the global orange market volume is expected once again in 2016. Orange yield reduction affects consumption worldwide. In this case, a distinction should …

Letter to the Editor: Pete Spyke

Josh McGillCitrus

By: Pete Spyke President of Arapaho Citrus Management, Inc. Bill Castle’s recent Letter to the Editor (see January 2016 Citrus Industry) called for our industry to engage in dialogue about HLB that is different from our usual kinds of communication. It seems that a good place to start may be with new varieties and rootstocks. Unless we increase the productive …

Nurseries Excited About New Early Valencia Orange Varieties

Kelsey FryCitrus, Citrus Greening, Genetic Engineering

By: Brad Buck GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Nurseries are very interested in two new early Valencia orange varieties from the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS). Growers need help because citrus greening has infected more than 80 percent of Florida’s citrus trees, according to a recent UF/IFAS survey of growers. Although these two new early Valencias are …

CRDF’s Browning Clarifies Recent USDA Funding

Kelsey FryCitrus, Citrus Greening, Legislative

The funding was made available through the Specialty Crop Research Initiative Citrus Disease Research and Extension Program, which was appropriated by the $125 million dollars allocated from the 2014 Farm Bill and administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The $22 million dollars will be used for a variety of citrus greening-related channels, …

Update on Bactericide Use

Josh McGillCitrus

Harold Browning, chief operations officer of the Citrus Research and Development Foundation (CRDF), reports on the first month of grower bactericide use on Florida citrus. Topics he addresses include options for the number of applications per year and product availability. He also discusses a soon-to-be-released document CRDF is developing that will provide instructions for growers on how to set up …

Discussing Genetic Engineering With a Concerned Public

Josh McGillCitrus

By: Kevin Folta Our farm producers have brought unprecedented low-priced, safe food to the United States and the world. Despite the success, there are challenges to sustained production that may best be solved with genetic engineering. These technologies have proven safe and effective for almost two decades, mostly in the arena of high-acreage agronomic crops like corn, soy and cotton. …

Plant Pathologist Joins UF/IFAS

Josh McGillCitrus

Plant pathologist joins UF/IFAS to help solve citrus industry issues By: Robin Koestoyo FORT PIERCE, Fla. – A plant pathologist with 12 years of experience in plant-microbe interactions has joined the faculty of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences’ Indian River Research and Education Center (IRREC) to help citrus growers. Following an international search for a …

What to Consider When Putting a New Grove in Place

Josh McGillCitrus, Water

By: Mongi Zekri There is a high degree of planning and preparation that goes into making a new citrus tree planting successful. Site preparation, installation of an irrigation system, selection of varieties and rootstocks, tree spacing, purchasing trees from reputable nurseries, and tree planting and care are all important. Site Preparation The planting site should be well prepared. Soils at …

Greasy Green

Greasy Green and Its Management

Daniel CooperCitrus Expo, Diseases

A citrus disorder called greasy green has plagued Florida grapefruit producers for several years, causing a significant reduction in profits. University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Associate Professor and Extension Specialist Megan Dewdney discussed the disorder and its management at the Citrus & Specialty Crop Expo in August. Dewdney works at the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and …

$675.9 Million Disaster Assistance Block Grant for Florida Farmers

Tacy CalliesAs Seen On Instagram, financial, hurricane

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins appeared today at Cooperative Producers Inc. in Felda, Florida, to meet with agricultural leaders and growers to announce additional U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) assistance to help producers recover from Hurricanes Idalia, Debby, Helene and Milton. Rollins signed a block grant agreement with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) to provide …

Angle

Positive Changes

Daniel CooperHLB Management

By J. Scott Angle, jangle@ufl.edu, @IFAS_VP Two and a half years ago, Riley McKenna leveled with his dad. Without a tool that made a noticeable difference in the grove soon, it might be time for dad to retire and Riley to seek a new career. So why was he spending an April day with me and his cousin Morgan McKenna …

effectiveness

Effectiveness of Psyllid Insecticides in Brazil

Daniel CooperBrazil, HLB Management

Fundecitrus researcher Marcelo Miranda recently discussed the effectiveness of insecticides in combating greening-spreading Asian citrus psyllids in Brazil. He presented a lecture at the 50th Expocitrus/46th Citrus Week at the Sylvio Moreira Citrus Center in São Paulo. The information Miranda shared focused on the Citrus Belt of São Paulo and expansion areas. The researcher shared updated results of studies conducted …

resistance

Mechanism of Resistance to HLB Identified

Daniel CooperHLB Management, International, Research

A research team led by Jian Ye from the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has identified the first mechanism of citrus resistance to HLB. Results of the study were published in Science. Utilizing artificial intelligence (AI), the team has also developed antimicrobial peptides that offer a promising therapeutic approach to combat the disease. This discovery addresses …

Branch rot

Branch Rot Hits Brazilian Orchards

Daniel CooperBrazil, Diseases

The disease branch rot is worrying Brazilian citrus growers because of its recent increased occurrence in orchards. Branch rot is also called peduncular rot, branch gummosis or bot gummosis. The main reason for the disease’s occurrence is stress caused to citrus plants by high temperatures, severe periods of drought and attacks from other diseases, such as greening. Fungi of the …