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Below you'll see everything we could locate for your search of “freeze protection”
Citrus growers in Florida’s Panhandle will have a greatly reduced citrus harvest this year because of a hard freeze in December 2022, the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) reported. To help growers reduce damage in future freezes, UF/IFAS has tools that aid with citrus cold protection. Water is the most common form of cold protection …
Apopka citrus grower Chip Henry reports that McGuire Groves received 9.5 inches of rain in March 2022. In March 2023, it received less than half an inch. Portions of Lee, Hendy and Collier counties were in an extreme drought as of April 6, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Many other areas of Florida, including where McGuire Groves is located, …
Do not apply recovery techniques immediately after a freeze, cold-hardy citrus growers were advised after freezes hit their groves in December 2022 and January 2023. The best strategy is to wait to observe new growth until at least late spring, researcher Muhammad Shahid told the Georgia Citrus Association at its recent annual meeting. Shahid is a University of Florida Institute …
Trees in the Sweet Valley Citrus region are more acclimated to cold temperatures than those in Central and South Florida. That is a reason that Bill Barber, Certified Crop Adviser and owner of Barber Ag Services, believes citrus trees in North Florida, South Georgia and South Alabama have rebounded well following the Christmas freeze event. “I first thought the worst. …
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) in Georgia is reminding farmers and landowners of the assistance it offers in the wake of a freeze. The state’s citrus industry suffered damage during the five-night freeze that occurred in late December. The FSA programs are the Tree Assistance Program (TAP) and the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP). …
“To some extent, every citrus variety has suffered from cold damage” due to the five-night freeze event that occurred in the cold-hardy citrus region Dec. 24–28. That report comes from Jake Price, Lowndes County Extension coordinator for University of Georgia Extension. “The site of our citrus research plots in Valdosta reached a low of 16 degrees, which is the lowest …
U.S. Representatives Greg Steube (R-Fla.) and Darren Soto (D-Fla.) introduced the Temperature Endorsement for Multi-Peril Policies (TEMP) Act to protect farmers impacted by crop-damaging freezes. Rep. Steube proposes this legislation for inclusion in the 2023 farm bill. “This winter, a freeze caused significant damages to Florida’s citrus, sugarcane, ornamental plants, and many fruits and vegetables. Currently, specialty-crop insurance policies are expensive, leaving farmers with limited options …
The Georgia and Florida citrus industries reportedly came through the Sunday morning freeze with no significant widespread damage. In Florida, temperatures in the 20s were the coldest most groves had experienced in several years. “Everything looks good,” said Lindy Savelle, president of the Georgia Citrus Association. “We got some burn on the top of trees, but very little.” Most of …
Tried and proven cold protection techniques and changes to the Florida Automated Weather Network (FAWN) were discussed in a virtual Nov. 17 winter weather program. Chris Oswalt, citrus Extension agent for Hillsborough and Polk counties, summarized the decades-old cold protection techniques still practiced by Florida citrus growers. One of the first steps in cold protection is being prepared by staying …
Lindy Savelle received numerous calls and texts from relatively new southern Georgia citrus growers prior to a mild freeze the morning of Dec. 2. “They were asking, ‘What should I do?’” said Savelle, president of the Georgia Citrus Association. The new growers were concerned because lows of 26 and 28 that morning were the coldest in the region in several …
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, …
(UF/IFAS) — Just one freeze could cripple much of Florida’s citrus crop. It happened 30 years ago. Chris Oswalt, a multi-county commercial citrus agent for University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Extension, remembers the frost-bitten evenings. Christmas 1983, January 1985 and Christmas 1989 marked three of the worst citrus freezes in the state’s history. Even though …
Winter Weather Watch is a University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension program that has helped generations of Florida citrus growers be prepared for freezes. “Back in the ’60s, we didn’t have the Internet. We had rotary dial phones,” says multi-county citrus Extension agent Chris Oswalt, who discusses the history and workings of Winter Weather Watch, which …
When the next frost threatens Florida’s crops, growers will do their best to make sure your favorite foods are protected from the potentially crippling chill, say University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) experts. For example, citrus growers use wind machines and microsprinklers to ensure freezing temperatures don’t ruin the fruit, said Chris Oswalt, a multi-county citrus …
Chris Oswalt, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences citrus Extension agent for Polk and Hillsborough counties, discusses passive and active cold-protection practices for citrus trees. “Passive practices are those things that growers would intentionally do before typically planting the grove,” Oswalt says. Site selection, including planting on higher elevations that are warmer than lower cold-pocket locations, is …
Temperatures dipped into the 20s in much of the Florida Citrus Belt on the morning of Jan. 18, but the state’s largest citrus growers association expected little, if any, freeze damage. Florida Citrus Mutual spokesman Andrew Meadows said there could be minor or moderate fruit loss in some low-lying pockets, “but absolutely no tree damage.” The coldest Florida citrus region …
Citrus growers and other agriculturists can use the Florida Automated Weather Network’s (FAWN) Cold Protection Toolkit to make decisions when using irrigation for cold protection. FAWN Project Manager Rick Lusher provides an overview of what he calls the toolkit’s “step-by-step guide.” “You can look at a four-day forecast from the National Weather Service, and then you can go down to …
Rick Lusher, project manager for the Florida Automated Weather Network (FAWN), won’t predict whether there’ll be a citrus freeze this season. But he did tell growers in Sebring on December 15 what weather the federal government is expecting through freeze season. “The most recent three-month outlook that NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) provides shows above normal temperatures and below …
By Muhammad A. Shahid, Shahid Iqbal and Davie Kadyampakeni As temperatures begin to drop across citrus-growing regions, now is the time for growers to prepare their groves for potential freeze events. Citrus trees, especially young plantings, are susceptible to cold temperatures. Damage from a single freeze event can result in canopy dieback, fruit loss and even tree death. Proper planning …
The short timeframe when temperatures dipped below freezing this week in the cold-hardy citrus region appears to have not been problematic for trees. That’s the preliminary assessment shared by Mary Sutton, University of Georgia (UGA) assistant professor and citrus Extension specialist. Sutton emphasized that the few hours that temperatures dropped into the 20s early Tuesday morning was a lot better …
