Citrus News: Production, Political, and Other News Items

Gary Cooper Citrus, Florida

In this post, citrus folks can find several features addressing several different topics. Among them, in this first report, grower Mark Wheeler of Wheeler Farms at Lake Placid talks about production matters and what some growers may consider with respect to the crop forecast and seasonal market expectations. We spoke to Wheeler shortly after the crop forecast was released earlier this month.
In this next report, info on an upcoming meeting of a new Long Range Planning Council that’s been set up through the Citrus Commission, and AgNet’s Ernie Neff has a preview of the upcoming November issue of Citrus Industry Magazine.
For these next two reports, Florida Senator J D Alexander discusses several issues important to the citrus industry in state political scene this season, including the status of the Sunset Review process of the Florida Dept of Citrus.

In report number five for this citrus news post, some pointed advice from one citrus grower who has been a leader in helping the industry deal with citrus greening disease and controls for the citrus psyllid. Jim Snively’s comments are from an interview we did with him at a grower meeting in recent weeks.

And in these final two reports in this post, FFVA researcher of the year Ron Muraro from UF’s Citrus Research and Education Center at Lake Alfred discusses fertilizer costs and some considerations for growers who may be looking for ways to mitigate the high cost of fertilization for their citrus groves these days.