The June issue of Specialty Crop Industry Magazine focuses on Bill Brim, a Georgia producer fighting for the future of U.S. farmers. The Tifton, Georgia, grower discusses his educational effort in promoting domestic grown produce while expressing concern over where future generations will receive their food.
Yiannis Ampatzidis, associate professor at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Southwest Florida Research and Education Center (SFREC), discusses mechanical harvest technologies for strawberries. They would lessen dependence on manual labor and improve the overall competitiveness of U.S. producers. But multiple challenges need to be overcome to improve their efficiency.
Juan Carlos Diaz-Perez, professor at the University of Georgia Tifton campus, discusses sweet onion production under organic fertilization.
Ozgur Batuman, assistant professor, and Salih Yilmaz, graduate student, both at the UF/IFAS SWFREC, discuss field surveys for resistance-breaking viruses in tomatoes. Florida is the leading producer of fresh market tomatoes. UF/IFAS wants to keep it that way.
UF/IFAS professor Pamela Roberts, graduate research assistant Aastha Subedi, associate professor Erica Goss and distinguished professor Jeffrey Jones talk about the primary challenge to pepper production – bacterial spot disease.