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Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been tagged as “Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association”
Applications for the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association’s (FFVA) Mike and Karen Stuart Scholarship are due April 15. Application forms are available at the FFVA’s Florida Specialty Crop Foundation website. The scholarship, for $2,000 per recipient, was created in 2021 to encourage and support college students who intend to pursue a career in the specialty crop industry. It is open …
Rep. Scott Franklin (FL-18), Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25) and Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) introduced the Block Grant Assistance Act of 2023, a critical bill to ensure the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) can provide needed relief to agriculture producers devastated by Hurricanes Ian and Nicole. This bill will provide the agriculture secretary needed authority to provide block grants to …
The Florida citrus industry has an urgent need for disaster aid in the wake of Hurricanes Ian and Nicole, 17 members of Florida’s congressional delegation advised the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations. In a Dec. 8 letter, the U.S. representatives stated that Hurricane Ian impacts caused an estimated $675.5 million in preliminary damages to the industry. They reported that damage …
The 2022 H-2A program final rule was published Oct. 12 and became effective Nov. 14. The vast majority of Florida citrus is harvested by temporary foreign workers within the H-2A program, so the rule has many implications for the state’s citrus industry. Jamie Fussell, Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association director of labor relations, discussed the final rule during the Nov. …
The requirement that the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) conduct Best Management Practice (BMP) implementation verification visits has been temporarily suspended for several counties impacted by Hurricane Ian. The action was taken Oct. 31 by Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried. The 60-day suspension is effective for the counties of Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Flagler, Glades, …
The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Foreign Labor Certification has provided Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association (FFVA) with general guidance regarding additional flexibilities for H-2A employers impacted by Hurricane Ian. Most Florida citrus is harvested by temporary H-2A workers. Following is a summary of the DOL answers to four questions about H-2A employer flexibilities due to the hurricane’s …
Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association reported the following actions that Florida government agencies took during and after Hurricane Ian to aid impacted agricultural entities, including citrus. SUSPENSION OF WEIGHT RESTRICTIONSThe Florida Department of Transportation announced it suspended the size and weight restrictions for divisible loads on any vehicles transporting emergency equipment, services, supplies and agricultural commodities, including citrus and sugar. …
Over 60 citrus industry representatives gathered Aug. 25 for the 61st annual Packinghouse Day at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred. They heard updates on H-2A visa options for packinghouse workforce needs, an overview of citrus fruit export requirements and an update on food safety auditing. Faculty …
By Frank Giles Mike Aerts, Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association’s vice president of science and regulatory affairs, recently shared an update from the European Union (EU) that could impact maximum residue limits (MRLs) allowed in the 27-member-country body. MRLs govern the amount of allowable pesticide residue on a food product in order to enter a country. Because the EU has …
