University of Florida/IFAS is warning its vegetable and specialty crop growers of low temperatures expected tonight in some parts of the state. In an email sent by Gary England, UF/IFAS Extension Agent IV Emeritus, he reminds growers that the National Weather Service has issued free warnings for all north Florida locations west of the St. Johns River tonight. The warning …
Sneak Peek: December 2020 VSCNews Magazine
By Ashley Robinson Georgia growers may recognize the man on the cover of the December issue of VSCNews Magazine. Stanley Culpepper, University of Georgia (UGA) Cooperative Extension Weed Agronomist, has more than two decades of experience working with vegetable crops. Learn more about Culpepper’s expertise and his impact on the vegetable industry in the magazine. Also discussed in the magazine are …
University of Florida Citrus Faculty Highly Sought After As Research Partners in Fight Against Greening
(UF/IFAS) — University of Florida citrus researchers continue to be sought out as partners in ground-breaking research projects to fight Huanglongbing, also known as citrus greening disease. The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), recently awarded nearly $4.5 million in grants to UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences faculty to find novel ways to fight the disease. But UF/IFAS researchers are serving leadership roles in four other multi-million-dollar grants awarded to colleague institutions from …
Why You Should Re-Check Your Citrus Fertility Recommendations
Updates have been made to the ‘Nutrition of Florida Citrus Trees’ manual from UF/IFAS. Learn how it reflects a new thinking since HLB’s arrival.
Safe Food Production Training to be Available to Florida’s Small and Beginning Farmers
November 19, 2020 By: Ruth Borger, 517-803-7631, rborger@ufl.edu LAKE ALFRED, Fla. — A new opportunity for Florida’s small and medium-sized produce farmers will become a reality with the support of a U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety Outreach Program (FSOP) grant designed to produce and provide easy-to-access training in safe food production methods to underserved farmers. Faculty from the University …
Decision-Support Tool Using HiPerGator May Help Manage Devastating Avocado Disease
November 18, 2020 By: Brad Buck, bradbuck@ufl.edu, 352-875-2641 (cell) UF/IFAS researchers are working on a decision-support app to help policy makers and growers decide the best regional treatment options for laurel wilt disease, which is challenging Florida’s $35 million-a-year avocado crop. Laurel wilt disease is spread by several ambrosia beetle vectors. People, whether they grow avocados or not, can spread …
Florida Urban Tree Canopy Gives Oxygen, Shade – Saves $4 Billion a Year
November 12, 2020 By: Brad Buck, 352-875-2641 (cell); bradbuck@ufl.edu Trees give us shade to cool off and oxygen to breathe – and they provide Florida cities with $4 billion in benefits a year, collectively, UF/IFAS researchers say. These include savings in air pollution removal, stormwater runoff and carbon sequestration and storage, said Andrew Koeser, UF/IFAS associate professor of environmental horticulture. …
Why Citrus Variety Evaluations Are Hitting a Virtual Wall
All senses are needed to pick and choose new fruit selections for the industry. Coronavirus continues to short-circuit that process.
New Findings on Growing Hemp in Florida
By Tory Moore As the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Industrial Hemp Pilot Project research continues, growers around the state have begun growing hemp on their own farms. Researchers from the UF/IFAS Mid-Florida Research and Education Center (MREC) in Apopka have important considerations for Florida growers contemplating or currently growing hemp. Research lessons learned and …
Is the Florida Citrus Market Bouncing Back?
Fruit prices set to return to more normal levels after lingering effects from Hurricane Irma.