Plant City – Central Florida Ag News

Strawberry-harvesting robots, more of the sweeter varieties, and new U-picks

A ROBOT THAT CAN PICK strawberries may ease the industry’s labor problem and revolutionize the way crops are harvested. “This machine itself is being designed specifically for the strawberry,” says Gary Wishnatzki, a third-generation family-owner of Plant City’s Wish Farms, who is partnering in the project. “We’re not going to stop with strawberries … There’s …

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Harvest time: Double cropping — a watermelon season preview

THE END OF APRIL marks the beginning of watermelon harvest season in Central Florida, and for growers like Andy McDonald, it’s especially sweet. That’s because McDonald double crops, planting the watermelon seedlings in his Plant City strawberry fields. McDonald takes advantage of any lull in strawberry picking in early February to place the plants into …

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Preserving the present to protect the future

How one recipient of the Agricultural-Environmental Leadership Award is conserving our state’s resources THOSE IN AGRICULTURE have long been stewards of the lands that they utilize to raise a crop or turn out livestock to pasture, but some go above and beyond the norm. In Florida, ag producers who utilize “environmentally innovative farming practices” are …

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More agritourism for educational recreation

Farm-time fun for all with crop mazes, pumpkin patches, hayrides, and more RANCHERS TED AND DONNA SMITH have operated their 450-acre farm in North Lakeland for decades, and are proud of the family business located on the edge of the Green Swamp. Originally set up as a cattle ranch, the family-owned and family-operated Smith Family …

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Inviting the public to come out and have fun on the farm

POSITIVE PUBLIC AWARENESS is a significant aspect of agriculture today. In fact, I would say that the issue of public awareness is almost as important today as repairing our soils’ microbial populations with compost and compost tea. As the agriculture community becomes smaller and more diversified, our farms, groves, and ranches are encroached upon by …

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Venturing into the pampered world of blackberries

Frontier farmers take a step back to black with this alternative crop TOO MUCH HANDLING will ruin them, they are time-consuming to harvest, and sometimes they have thorns — but consumers love blackberries, and they are a viable fruit to be grown as an alternative to citrus in Florida.

Recipe Spotlight: Berries — from the crop to the kitchen

IN THE GAME OF GROWING BERRIES in Central Florida, Jorge Salmeron is a switch hitter. The Plant City part-time farmer, full-time teacher, had 10 acres of blueberries in production. Now, because of a foray into blueberries and blackberries, he has devoted about three acres to a nursery that holds 100,000-plus in plant inventory to meet …

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Soil life challenges

OUR SANDY SOILS in Florida are a constant challenge to all growers of all crops. We have an inadequate amount of organic matter to give us the platform we need to work from.

Recipe Spotlight: Sharing the red, juicy strawberry bounty

WE HARVEST STRAWBERRIES in spring and pull off the road to buy them at farm stands or, if we have to, in stores. Folks up north have to shovel their cars out or take a bus or trudge to a store for our berries.

High-tech alerts and the quest for a better berry

| Strawberry growers look to technology to help save money and increase production | Sixty-five-year-old Carl Grooms has been growing strawberries for more than four decades, but it’s not routine, and never business as usual. As his business card attests, he is “still learning.”