In this report, more details about this upcoming regional fruit and vegetable conference from Charles Hall of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association (GFVGA). GFVGA organizes and hosts this conference each year, and it has become a major meeting of fruit and vegetable interests from throughout the southeastern U. S. Find more information on the conference, its agenda and …
U S Sugar Pres/CEO Publishes Open Letter re SFWMD Buyout
President/CEO of U. S. Sugar Corporation, Robert H. Buker, Jr. goes on record today with this letter: Dear Employees and Stockholders: As you know, on December 8, 2008, your Company approved and entered into an agreement with the South Florida Water Management District (the “District”) to sell to the District for $1.34 billion substantially all of your Company’s real estate …
FL Farm Bureau Opposes U.S. Sugar Buyout by SFWMD
Florida Farm Bureau President John L. Hoblick today issued the following statement: At its meeting on Dec. 10, the board of directors of the Florida Farm Bureau Federation (FFBF), the state’s largest general interest agricultural organization, declared its opposition to the acquisition of U.S. Sugar Corp. lands by the South Florida Water Management District. The Federation firmly supports the rights …
California Citrus Industry Leaders Take Florida HLB Tour
During the recent International Research Conference on Huanglongbing in Orlando, some of the participants took a field trip to witness first hand the disease known to many Florida growers as “citrus greening”. Florida Citrus Mutual spokesman Andrew Meadows was among those helping to organize tour stops and discussions, and talks to our listeners about what went on. HLB Conference Coverage …
Specialty Crops Foundation Works on Food Safety Issues
In this report, more with Florida Specialty Crops Foundation executive Mike Carlton, this time discussing the food safety aspects of the industry. In a food safety scare situation for example, erroneous reporting and misguided government actions can devastate any agriculture industry with mis-steps or inaccurate information, such as the recent situation where tomotoes were wrongly blamed for foodborne illness that …
U S Sugar Corp BOD Approves Sale to SFWMD
CLEWISTON — December 8, 2008 — U.S. Sugar Corporation announced that its Board of Directors today approved the contract to sell approximately 180,000 acres of its real estate assets to the South Florida Water Management District. “After many months of negotiations and careful deliberation, the U.S. Sugar Board of Directors has approved the contract to sell its real estate assets …
Southern Gardens VP Discusses Disease Resistant Citrus Tree Trials
HLB Conference Coverage Sponsored by: In these first two reports, Southeast AgNet’s Ernie Neff (below left) catches up with Southern Gardens VP Jim Snively (photo right) to discuss the company’s news release about field trials beginning for citrus trees they hope will prove resistant to both citrus canker and HLB (citrus greening disease). Snively and other Southern Gardens personnel were …
Citrus HLB Research Conference Provides Lots of Updates
Click and listen to these latest voicer reports from Southeast AgNet’s Ernie Neff, covering the remaining days of this week’s International Research Conference on Huanglongbing in Orlando. In this first report, Neff reports on two different countries represented at the conference, one where greening has not been found, the other where it was discovered a month ago. In this next …
USDA Wants Specialty Crops Input
The USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) is requesting comments on proposed regulation changes to the Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops Program (TASC). The changes would provide increases for funding caps, project activity duration, and for the allowable number of projects underway at a time. The proposed changes were published in the Federal Register on December 3rd. The Technical Assistance for …
John Deere Drive Green Event Underway
John Deere’s program designed to give rural property owners, agricultural producers and other interested consumers a chance to operate and ask questions about the latest models of utility and compact utility tractors is underway across Florida. Their Drive Green Program includes special equipment displays and ride-and-drives at 4 locations across the state this week. One took place in Middleberg Wednesday …