Water issues will join hemp and labor topics during discussions this Wednesday at the combined Citrus Expo and Vegetable & Specialty Crop Expo. The two day event, August 14-15, will be held at the Lee Civic Center in North Fort Myers.
Following the 9:00 a.m. keynote presentation on hemp rule updates by Holly Bell, director of cannabis for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), water panelists will take to the stage at 10 a.m. Panelists will have an hour-long discussion on water quantity and quality issues of growing concern to farmers and residents alike throughout South Florida.
The Wednesday morning general session will wrap up with an hour-long panel discussion about how farmers can access legal foreign farm labor under the H-2A program.
Last year, the Citrus Expo event broke new ground by adding a day-long program devoted to vegetables and specialty crops, curated by experts with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. And this year, organizers are using the occasion to debut the “2019-2020 Vegetable Production Handbook of Florida,” which was produced by a team of UF/IFAS Extension faculty.
Growers will have the opportunity to attend both citrus and vegetable/specialty crop seminar programs both days, plus the trade show of more than 200 exhibitors.
