Latest News

by BRAD BUCK, UF/IFAS  We’re at the height of the Florida strawberry harvesting season – a time when the state’s growers are doing all they can to make sure consumers can choose from among the best of their favorite fruit at the market. Kenneth Parker, executive director of the Florida Strawberry Growers Association,  thanked Vance […]

If you’re perusing the produce section, you generally seek fresh, pleasant-looking fruit – the kind most consumers want to buy. Usually, that means you see few, if any, blemishes. Fruit bruising has many causes: compression, impact or vibration during harvesting, transportation and packaging operations, says Xue Zhou, a doctoral student at the UF/IFAS College of

by BRAD BUCK, UF/IFAS You ask most Southwest Florida farmers who they turn to for science-based agricultural information, and they’ll say, “Gene McAvoy.” It’s no accident the growers know him. “When I first started to work in Southwest Florida, I would just ride around and cold-call visit farmers,” says McAvoy, now a UF/IFAS Extension agent

Provided by FLORIDA CITRUS MUTUAL Bartow, Fla. – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued the January 2024 citrus crop forecast today for the 2023-2024 harvest season. The federal agency estimates production to be 20.5 million boxes of oranges this season. Additionally, the USDA forecasted 2.4 million boxes of grapefruit and 550,000 boxes of tangerines and tangelos. This

by LUIS RODRIGUEZ ROSADO, UF/IFAS Extension Polk County What Happens to Honey Bees During Winter? During winter, the lack of resources could represent a real challenge to the honey bees, not to mention that low temperatures could affect bee activity. Honey bees are more comfortable in temperatures of about 75℉ to 95℉. When temperature drops

by BRAD BUCK, UF/IFAS Robert Gilbert, who has served the past six months as University of Florida interim senior vice president for agriculture and natural resources, will serve in a full leadership role for at least another 18 months. Gilbert has served as UF/IFAS research dean and interim senior vice president while Scott Angle has

PROVIDED BY UF/IFASby BRAD BUCK A veteran blueberry researcher has been named the University of Florida’s Horticulture Crop Breeding Endowed Chair, recognizing the royalties generated by the fruit varieties he’s developed for global farming and consumption. Patricio Muñoz, a UF/IFAS associate professor of horticultural sciences, was recently awarded the professorship by J. Scott Angle, UF

provided by FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND CONSUMER SERVICES On Dec. 19, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson announced that farmers can apply for the Florida Farm Tax Exempt Agricultural Materials (TEAM) Card beginning January 1, 2024, to use for sales-tax-exempt purchases of agricultural materials. The plastic wallet-sized Florida Farm TEAM Card is a physical

SOURCE: FLORIDA CITRUS MUTUAL Florida Citrus Mutual, the state’s largest citrus grower association, is introducing its inaugural Julia C. Black Memorial Speech Contest & Scholarship to encourage students to learn more about the state’s agriculture industry, specifically Florida citrus; and to support these students with scholarship funds.  The Contest will be broken into two parts: District and

FLORIDA CITRUS MUTUAL press release Bartow – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued the December 2023 citrus crop forecast today for the 2023-2024 harvest season. The federal agency estimates production to be 20.5 million boxes of oranges this season. The forecast of oranges remains unchanged since the October 2023 estimate. Additionally, the USDA forecasted 2.4 million