I’VE SAID IT BEFORE, but it merits repeating: Florida agriculture is big. Make that HUGE. It’s huge in scope, in numbers, and importance — importance not only to those of us fortunate to live here but also to people across the nation and around the world.
Limes were once so plentiful in south Florida that one of the varieties grown here was known as a Key lime because it was grown around the Florida Keys. Then, a “perfect storm” of Hurricane Andrew, citrus canker, and insect pests came together to push limes out of Florida. However, it looks as if limes …
Growing Limes in Florida: A Sweet and Sour History for Growers Read More »
The Citrus Growing Project of the Polk County Youth Fair is teaching young people responsibility and agricultural lessons through raising citrus trees. Passing knowledge on to the next generation is important in any field, and it’s especially vital to the citrus industry in Florida. With the many innovations that are taking place in growing citrus, …
Citrus Growing Project Helps Students Understand Agriculture Read More »
THE 2012 CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE counted 2.1 million farms in the U.S., with 97 percent being considered family-owned operations. While that designation could be any number of configurations of family members, siblings, and extended kin, the one that packs the most important punch is the multigenerational family farming business. We count the number of farming …
A smoother transition for passing on the family farming tradition Read More »
HURRICANE MATTHEW gave the state of Florida quite a scare during the first week of October. It held the potential to inflict great devastation on the state’s inhabitants and infrastructure. It was especially troubling to Florida’s agricultural industry, with the citrus industry having a lot to lose.
WE IN FLORIDA have known for quite some time how grand, how diverse, and how wonderful agriculture in the Sunshine State really is — and how much more grand it’s destined to be. Now, a bunch of folks way up north, in the U.S. Midwest, are learning about Florida’s special place in American agriculture, too.
IF YOU KNOW where to find it, if you know how to access it, and if you meet certain qualifications, government funds are available to help your citrus operation. For that matter, government funds, at both the federal and state levels, are available to help a wide variety of agriculture-related enterprises.
TWO FLORIDA SCHOOLS are continuing their part in fighting against (and protecting Florida’s citrus industry from) HLB, or citrus greening — the University of Central Florida and the University of Florida.
THE THOUGHT in the headline, and the timeless wisdom behind it, came to mind a few weeks ago when I first heard about the vote on the matter of reauthorizing the Florida citrus research order. That’s the order that, in a nutshell, established the Lake Alfred-based Citrus Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) as the lead …
FLORIDA IS KNOWN for its white sandy beaches, world-class attractions, and (my personal favorite) citrus. Look no further than Florida’s official license plate, with its image of two oranges and an orange blossom, as proof of its place in our history and culture. Florida has been synonymous with citrus for most of our 500-year history …
