Ocala, FL — Southeast AgNet Publications Inc. announced the acquisition of Florida Science Source Inc., a citrus book publishing and reseller operation. It bought the business from founder Will Wardowski and his wife Christie.
Wardowski is well known in citrus circles all over the world as a post-harvest expert. He was the first editor of Fresh Citrus Fruits 1st edition, published in New York in 1986. Known to citrus packers as “The Green Bible,” Fresh Citrus Fruits 1st and 2nd editions include more than 40 authors from around the world. Read the rest of this entry »
A giant South Korean retailer is teaming up with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to promote Florida grapefruit in Seoul during March. A similar promotion last year increased Florida grapefruit sales by as much as 900 percent. Southeast AgNet’s Ernie Neff has the report.
Florida Citrus Packers executive Richard Kinney says while Japan has agreed to accept canker-blemished fruit from Florida, packers shouldn’t send fruit until procedures are finalized.
Reliable sources say Japan has agreed to remove restrictions on canker blemished fruit from Florida, but that shippers should wait for the details to be worked out before beginning to ship such fruit. Southeast AgNet’s Ernie Neff has the report.
This week’s Commissioner’s Spotlight from Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson is about Florida pink grapefruit being featured in 220 Waitrose stores in and around London during January and February. The promotion builds upon a multiyear marketing relationship between Waitrose and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS).
Florida Citrus Mutual this week stopped short of saying it will pursue a full anti-dumping investigation against Brazilian orange juice processor Citrovita. Instead, it says it is “investigating the possibility”. That statement in a Mutual press release came after the U.S. Department of Commerce said it didn’t have the authority to add Citrovita to a 2006 anti-dumping action, as Mutual had requested. Southeast AgNet’s Ernie Neff has the report.
Australian consultant Andy Krajewski put a different twist on canopy management in his talk at Citrus Expo in August. In the first report here, he offers an overview of his ideas about canopy management. In the second report, he discusses the benefits of shaping trees at an early age and taking a very measured approach to tree pruning.
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News reports and other statements this week from Mexican officials and California citrus industry representatives confirm HLB, known as citrus greening disease, is present in the country’s Yucatan peninsula. Quoted as saying Mexico has been cooperative in fighting the plant disease and its vector, the asian citrus psyllid, California Citrus Mutual spokesmen also indicate meetings with Mexican agriculture officials are working toward development of strategic plans to fight the spread of the disease.
An advanced citrus production system that should help growers get into production quickly, and low-volume spraying for psyllid control, are hot topics at Citrus Expo. Southeast AgNet’s Ernie Neff summarizes presentations on those issues in the following reports.
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Many have been streaming through the doors of the 18th annual Citrus Expo which opened this morning, as the first stop for most is the sold-out trade show.
Then once visiting the trade show area many head over for the seminars which also started this morning and run not only through the afternoon but also tomorrow.
Citrus Expo is today and Thursday, August 19th & 20th, at the Lee Civic Center in Ft Myers. To learn more visit www.CitrusExpo.net for all the program details.
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CLICK THE EXPO LOGO FOR PROGRAM DETAILS!
An advanced citrus production system should help citrus growers get into production more quickly than they do using traditional growing methods. Arnold Schumann, who will discuss the system’s benefits at Citrus Expo, offers a preview of his presentation.
Citrus Expo seminars Aug. 19-20 will focus on ways growers can deal with citrus greening and other challenges in the grove but will also address other important topics, including the economics of the citrus business. In the first report, Southeast AgNet’s Ernie Neff gives an overview of the scheduled economics presentations. In the second, Allen Morris previews his talk about a recent unusual juice pricing situation that has left growers in a bind.
In the first report below, University of Florida entomologist Michael Rogers discusses his planned Citrus Expo talk about aerial applications for psyllid control. In the second report, he tells what message growers will take home from his presentation.
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University of Florida entomologist Lukasz Stelinski will focus on several aspects of psyllid control in his Citrus Expo presentation Aug. 19. He’ll discuss psyllid biology, low-volume sprays and new pesticide technologies. He and Southeast AgNet’s Ernie Neff discuss his presentation in the first report below. In the second report, Stelinski says Expo attendees will get a good take-home message about low-volume spraying.
Growers who soon receive their August issue of Citrus Industry Magazine will notice it is much thicker than usual. The August issue is by far the largest issue published since Southeast AgNet bought the 85-year-old magazine business in mid-2005. Southeast AgNet’s Ernie Neff, editor of the magazine, has details in this report.
A big reason is this year’s Citrus Expo. Read the rest of this entry »
Here’s a brief report about the recent announcement that Cutrale Citrus Juices USA of Auburndale has been approved to build an orange juice tank farm at Tampa Bay to help in their efforts to ship citrus juices worldwide from here in Florida.
Growers, click the Citrus Expo logo & pre-register for a chance to win a gun safe!
More follow up comments in this report from Dan Richey, CEO of Riverfront Groves & Packing in Vero Beach, FL, about the newly proposed fresh citrus shipping rules that have now entered a 60-day public comment period. Richey says the USDA-led science that these new rules are based upon will likely have a ‘global effect’ as other citrus producing countries with citrus canker also study the results.
Citrus Expo 2009 planning is well underway. The event is scheduled for Lee Civic Center near Ft Myers August 19 & 20, 2009. Here is a rundown of some of the latest developments and some links to key information growers and industry vendors need to know.
Pre-registration is now open on line. CLICK HERE to pre-register, and remember, pre-registered growers are entered in a drawing to win a very nice John Deere gun safe sponsored by Everglades Farm Equipment! Citrus Expo Seminar Topics have been released, exact presentation times and speakers yet to come. Citrus Expo Trade Show Exhibit Spaces – Only a few remain. To find exhibitor information, see the floor plan, and learn about vendor sponsorship opportunities CLICK HERE!
Check out Citrus Expo’s new lodging and entertainment possibilities for overnight guests!
Keep up with all Citrus Expo program developments. Visit the CITRUS EXPO HOME PAGE anytime!
The rest of the group on the recent citrus tour to Brazil returned mid week. In this report, comments from University of Florida multi-county citrus extension agent Steve Futch (photo right), about some of what is being learned both in Brazil and Florida about HLB grove surveys. This report also includes a short comment from Lake Placid grower John Smoak who attended most of the trip.
In this series of reports from Ernie Neff, University of Florida geneticist and plant breeder Fred Gmitter tells about seeing healthy blocks of citrus in China surrounded by HLB (greening)-infected groves. He describes how some Chinese successfully manage HLB with timely psyllid control, high density plantings and good tree nutrition. There are discussions of how the China findings might apply to Florida. In the last report, Gmitter says his China experience turned him from a pessimist into an optimist about the future of the citrus industry.
John Smoak (in photo) and the other Florida growers participating in last week’s citrus industry tour to Brazil are back in Florida. But before leaving Brazil, Smoak offered the comments in this report about a five year old block of citrus that will soon be destroyed and replaced with sugar cane. We were told owners loved the young trees so much they delayed any action against the spread of HLB and now it is 100 percent infected.
We’ll have more reports to come later this week but I am still in Brazil and internet access will be challenging in coming days. A couple of us remaining are attending the “Citrus Week” trade show and seminars program taking place this week here in Brazil. In case you missed the previous report from this trip, CLICK HERE and check it out.
Our small group from Florida is getting great access to groves, growers, citrus greenhouse nurseries, and government & industry officials on this week’s tour of Brazilian citrus. In the first report, an overview of the trip including mention of a new law in Brazil requiring growers to remove entire groves once HLB incidence in a grove reaches 28%.
In the second report, reflections from tour participant John Smoak of Lake Placid (photo).
This report features Bud Philbrook of USDA’s International Programs (left) and Michael Scuse of USDA’s Domestic Programs (right), discussing possible world food shortages in the years ahead and the reasons for them. Both these gentlemen spoke to our group of Farm Broadcasters during our visits to Washington D C last week.
Thursday night at University of Florida’s Citrus Research and Education Center at Lake Alfred, industry leaders and growers joined colleagues of Center Director Dr Harold Browning, who leaves his post officially April 10 for new adventures in the Yellowstone region. In the first report below, a sendoff commentary as we here at the network have also enjoyed working with Browning as an effective spokesman for citrus research. In the second and third reports below, hear Browning’s comments from a couple previous AgNet broadcasts, aired a few weeks ago as his retirement was first announced. Browning’s role will now be handled by Acting Director of UF/CREC, Dr Jackie Burns (with Browning in photo).
Find the many news items we have done with Browning since we started archiving news on this network website, by CLICKING HERE.
If you are interested in finding out what is up with a federal marketing order for orange growers, it will take you less than ten minutes to hear all six reports in this series. In each report Florida Citrus Mutual CEO Mike Sparks speaks about a different angle of this topic.
Wardowski is well known in citrus circles all over the world as a post-harvest expert. He was the first editor of Fresh Citrus Fruits 1st edition, published in New York in 1986. Known to citrus packers as “The Green Bible,” Fresh Citrus Fruits 1st and 2nd editions include more than 40 authors from around the world. Read the rest of this entry »
This week’s Commissioner’s Spotlight from Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson is about Florida pink grapefruit being featured in 220 Waitrose stores in and around London during January and February. The promotion builds upon a multiyear marketing relationship between Waitrose and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS).
Norman Borlaug was known for giving life to millions. Today Everett Griner tells us more about him.
Australian consultant Andy Krajewski put a different twist on canopy management in his talk at Citrus Expo in August. In the first report here, he offers an overview of his ideas about canopy management. In the second report, he discusses the benefits of shaping trees at an early age and taking a very measured approach to tree pruning.
An advanced citrus production system should help citrus growers get into production more quickly than they do using traditional growing methods. Arnold Schumann, who will discuss the system’s benefits at Citrus Expo, offers a preview of his presentation.
In the first report, Southeast AgNet’s Ernie Neff gives an overview of the scheduled economics presentations. In the second, Allen Morris previews his talk about a recent unusual juice pricing situation that has left growers in a bind.
In the first report below, University of Florida entomologist Michael Rogers discusses his planned Citrus Expo talk about aerial applications for psyllid control. In the second report, he tells what message growers will take home from his presentation.
will focus on several aspects of psyllid control in his Citrus Expo presentation Aug. 19. He’ll discuss psyllid biology, low-volume sprays and new pesticide technologies. He and Southeast AgNet’s Ernie Neff discuss his presentation in the first report below. In the second report, Stelinski says Expo attendees will get a good take-home message about low-volume spraying.
More follow up comments in this report from Dan Richey, CEO of Riverfront Groves & Packing in Vero Beach, FL, about the newly proposed fresh citrus shipping rules that have now entered a 60-day public comment period. Richey says the USDA-led science that these new rules are based upon will likely have a ‘global effect’ as other citrus producing countries with citrus canker also study the results. 
The rest of the group on the recent citrus tour to Brazil returned mid week. In this report, comments from University of Florida multi-county citrus extension agent Steve Futch (photo right), about some of what is being learned both in Brazil and Florida about HLB grove surveys. This report also includes a short comment from Lake Placid grower John Smoak who attended most of the trip. 
In this series of reports from Ernie Neff, University of Florida geneticist and plant breeder Fred Gmitter tells about seeing healthy blocks of citrus in China surrounded by HLB (greening)-infected groves. He describes how some Chinese successfully manage HLB with timely psyllid control, high density plantings and good tree nutrition. There are discussions of how the China findings might apply to Florida. In the last report, Gmitter says his China experience turned him from a pessimist into an optimist about the future of the citrus industry.
Our small group from Florida is getting great access to groves, growers, 
This report features Bud Philbrook of USDA’s International Programs (left) and Michael Scuse of USDA’s Domestic Programs (right), discussing possible world food shortages in the years ahead and the reasons for them. Both these gentlemen spoke to our group of Farm Broadcasters during our visits to Washington D C last week. 
Thursday night at University of Florida’s Citrus Research and Education Center at Lake Alfred, industry leaders and growers joined colleagues of Center Director Dr Harold Browning, who leaves his post officially April 10 for new adventures in the Yellowstone region. 
In the first report below, a sendoff commentary as we here at the network have also enjoyed working with Browning as an effective spokesman for citrus research. In the second and third reports below, hear Browning’s comments from a couple previous AgNet broadcasts, aired a few weeks ago as his retirement was first announced. Browning’s role will now be handled by Acting Director of UF/CREC, Dr Jackie Burns (with Browning in photo).
If you are interested in finding out what is up with a federal marketing order for orange growers, it will take you less than ten minutes to hear all six reports in this series. In each report Florida Citrus Mutual CEO Mike Sparks speaks about a different angle of this topic.
