We spent some time in Tallahassee this week to catch up on the budget cutting process underway in this special session, and what may be expected in terms of further cuts later, in the general session scheduled to get underway in early March. In this series of reports, we speak with three different lawmakers about agriculture and related issues as …
Florida Farm Bureau Hails Arrington Appt as UF Interim Ag VP
(GAINESVILLE, Fla.) Florida Farm Bureau Federation, the state’s largest agricultural organization, today praised University of Florida President Bernie Machen’s appointment of Dr. Larry Arrington (photo right) as interim senior vice president for agriculture and natural resources. “Dr. Arrington’s 28 years of experience as a faculty member and administrator for UF/IFAS will ensure an orderly transition in the top leadership of …
Budget Cuts Main Focus In Florida Legislature “Special Session”
Cutting the state budget is what it’s all about in the Legislative Special Session now underway in Tallahassee, and sources say much larger cuts likely lie ahead in the regular session set to start in early March. You can hear an overview of the issues from an agricultural perspective in this report as we visit the state Capitol this week …
IFAS Dean Arrington Named UF Interim Sr. V. P. for Agriculture
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Larry Arrington, (photo left)dean and director of the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension, has been named interim senior vice president for agriculture and natural resources, UF President Bernie Machen announced today. Arrington succeeds Jimmy Cheek (photo right), who in October was named chancellor of the University of Tennessee. Arrington will assume his …
Citrus Pull – Push Concept for HLB “Greening” Control Measure
HLB Conference Coverage Sponsored by: In this report, Dr Calvin Arnold, Director, USDA Horticulture Lab in Ft Pierce FL, describes a concept that he says is being talked about more and more as a possible citrus psyllid and HLB control measure. Sponsored ContentWhat Sets Provysol® Fungicide ApartJuly 8, 2025CIR Agriculture Harvester ProductsJuly 1, 2025Nuseed Carinata Covers New GroundOctober 1, 2024
GA Ag Commodity Commish Awards $85K for Veg Research
This in today from the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association (GFVGA): The Georgia Agricultural Commodity Commission for Vegetables is pleased to announce that more than $85,000.00 has been awarded for nine 2009 research projects. These are the first research grants awarded since the new vegetable marketing order and commission was approved by vegetable growers in February of 2008. Bo …
Late Blight Showing Up in SW Florida Crops
This just in from Gene McAvoy, County Extension Director, Regional Vegetable Agent IV, UF/IFAS Hendry County Extension, LaBelle, Florida: Over the weekend, reports indicate that late blight is showing up everywhere across Southwest Florida on both tomato and potato. Late blight is caused by the fungus Phytophthora infestans, which is a pathogen of potato and tomato. This disease can spread …
Citrus Economist: “We Gotta Have the Prices…to Survive…”
HLB Conference Coverage Sponsored by: While many in the citrus industry are elated that so much money has been made available by the Florida Department of Citrus (FDOC) and other sources to support HLB, or “citrus greening” research, many also remain concerned about the market overburdened with juice in the pipeline and cash prices to growers depressed as a result. …
Why Are Food Prices Not Coming Down Too?
One example among many could be orange juice. While cash prices to growers for oranges are way down from a year ago, consumer prices at the supermarket remain higher than market forces seem to justify. A number of people in farm country are asking this question, and this report from USDA tries to provide at least some general answers to …
USDA Hort Lab Director Arnold re HLB Research Progress
HLB Conference Coverage Sponsored by: In this report hear Dr Calvin Arnold, director of USDA’s Horticulture Research Lab in Ft Pierce FL, discuss his views on the progress of HLB research over the past three years or so since the tree disease known to many growers as “Greening” was discovered in Florida. Among other things, Arnold says there are three …