Page 24 - CFAN_Sep2014
P. 24
FloridaAgNews.com
AgriBiz
PROFILES
by CHERYL ROGERS
AG FLYING SERVICE:
FIGHTING THE PSYLLID
Jerry Wise plays a key role in the battle against the Asian psyllid that spreads citrus greening disease. As a pilot and owner of Ag
Flying Service Inc., Wise fights the psyllid from the air. “We feel like we’ve kind of reached the plateau,” he says, speaking about the battle against citrus greening. “One day we may be able to win the war.”
The company, with offices in Avon Park and Samson, Alabama, sprays some 100,000 plus acres every year, 60 percent of it in Florida.
Citrus greening, which was discovered in South Florida in 2005, is threatening the state’s $9 billion citrus industry. Coordinated sprays have had some success in reducing the psyllid count. Ag Flying Service handles most of the aerial psyllid sprays in Highland, DeSoto, Polk, and Hardee counties. The company alternates between three types of insecti- cides to minimize chances the psyllid will develop immunity.
Not every grove is sprayed from the air. “A lot of the growers are doing ground applications,” he explains. Whether from the ground or air, he believes sprays are important. “Everybody pulling together will probably be what means salvation for the citrus crop,” he asserts. “It just needs to get done.”
Before greening, folks in the industry ran their own individual pro- grams. The community has since become “tighter,” and better ac- quainted, he points out. Ninety-six percent of Ag Flying Service’s business involves the citrus crop, with the rest of the work generated by dairy and produce farmers. The company with a staff of eight, including Wise and two other pilots, sprays insecticide and fungicide. They also make fertility and ant bait applications.
Wise is different from crop dusters who take a crash course in farm- ing before they become aerial applicators. “I came from the ag field,” he explains. “I understand the blood, sweat, and tears that go into raising the crop.” His dad, Travis, raised cotton, corn, peanuts, and livestock. After his father died, Jerry raised cotton, corn, and peanuts while he continued to fly. He quit farming in 2006.
Wise became intrigued with the profession of crop dusting when he saw a crop duster regularly near the family’s Alabama farm. “He [Tom- my Thompson] gave me my first ride,” recalls Wise, who was a preteen at the time. He learned to fly around age 20 and obtained a commercial license two years later, when he started spraying with a Piper Pawnee.
Wise loves seeing God’s creation from the air, and shares, “It’s so much prettier from the sky.”
FOR BEFORE AND AFTER PHOTOS, turn to PAGE 28.
ADVANTAGE
HEDGING &
TOPPING: CITRUS TREES RESPONDING TO  NUTRITION AND ‘DRASTIC CUTS’ 
Like many people in the citrus industry,
April Miller is doing business differently these
days because of citrus greening disease. Miller, who travels around the state giving citrus trees “haircuts” to encourage new growth, is now being asked to make “drastic cuts.” In the last three years, in- stead of cutting off new growth— approximately a foot long— she may cut three to four, or more, feet.
“They’re seeing that topping [trimming the tops of trees] right now is helping, along with the nutrition plan,” Miller observes. “That’s what they’re trying to do until they can find a cure for this greening.” In her travels, the owner and president of Advantage Hedging & Topping, Inc. has seen “unbelievable” fruit drop and fruit the size of golf balls. So the positive results brought about by drastic cuts and an improved nutrition program are pretty exciting.
For example, at Bethel Farms in Arcadia, where Miller topped trees, the groves have had a startling turnaround. There Jonathan Brown, senior vice president of production, has used the Hydrashield Nano Technolo- gies nutrition program in conjunction with good cultural practices (basi- cally hedging and topping) to revitalize the grove. He put the program in place after conferring with scientists in California about his soil samples. “They’re doing something right,” Miller observes. “I’ve watched it in 18 months do a complete 180 [degrees].” The grove’s production was up 20 percent, while others suffered a decline of 30 to 40 percent. “I couldn’t believe the new feeder roots,” she adds.
Citrus trees have been dying from the inside as a result of greening disease, which is killing their root systems. Growers now want to see ev- ery tree in the grove topped, regardless of its height, where before some would not be touched.
Miller has observed that growers in the south, where greening was first discovered in Florida in 2005, seem to be doing better than growers in the north, who developed problems later. Those in the south have had a head start with a nutrition program and drastic cuts, she points out.
Advantage Hedging & Topping trims 25,000 to 30,000 acres of citrus annually, in addition to assisting other growers in the agricultural industry and trimming along public highways. The company has a staff of eight operating from a Haines City office.
Miller has been in the business for more than 20 years. Her dad, Corky Willis, now 83, who owned Southern Grove Toppers for more than 30 years, taught her about the machines. Her mom, Carolyn, taught her the clerical side. The lessons have been invaluable, especially in a busi- ness where one wrong move can hurt production.
Although greening has been challenging for the entire industry, Miller states, “This is what we are; this is who we are. You just can’t hang your hat up and say, ‘We’re done.’”
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