AgNet DEMO

Category: Florida

  • Florida Blueberry Producer: Data Makes the Case for Us

    house
    File photo of blueberry production.

    A decision could come soon for Southeast blueberry growers hoping to find relief from seasonal imports causing harm to their farming operations.

    The International Trade Commission (ITC) heard the American Blueberry Growers Alliance Case in early January. Now, it will formulate a recommendation for President Biden to decide how to move forward.

    “I think the data makes the case for us. I think we have the data on our side. It’s hard not to look at the data and see what’s going on,” said Ryan Atwood, who lives in Mount Dora, Florida and farms 56 acres of blueberries, manages another 350 acres and is part-owner of the largest packing house in the Southeast United States.

    Gloomy Picture

    The statistics paint a picture of Southeast blueberry producers struggling to compete with imports from other countries, namely Mexico.

    Florida Ag Commissioner Nikki Fried said Florida’s blueberry market share had declined by 38% since 2015. Mexico’s market share has increased by 2,100% since 2009.

    Brittany Lee, Executive Director of the Florida Blueberry Growers Association said in 2010, when her family planted blueberries, there were only 1.8 million pounds of Mexican blueberries in the Florida window of March, April and May. Last year, there was 51.68 million pounds in that window.

    Jerome Crosby, Chairman of the American Blueberry Growers Alliance, testified that imports of fresh blueberries have increased 75% over the past five years and is only expected to worsen.

    According to the American Blueberry Growers Alliance, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Marketing Service reported a 68% increase in imported fruit from Mexico from 2019 to 2020, amounting to more than 15 million pounds of fresh blueberries during a 14-week period. Mexico, along with Peru, Chile, Canada and Argentina account for more than 98% of total U.S. imports. Import values increased from $530 million in 2014 to $1.2 billion in 2019.

    Opposing Groups

    Groups who opposed the blueberry’s alliance case also made their case to the ITC. Atwood believes their makeup consisted mostly of marketers and not farmers.

    “The only thing that I felt hurt us was they tried to portray themselves as a bunch of growers. Honestly, it was marketing interests that were being represented on the opposition,” Atwood said. “I think anyone who knows the industry and knows the players and knows who was on who’s side know it was marketers on the other side and growers on our side. It was pretty clear.”

    Now comes the hard part…waiting.  A recommendation from the ITC and a decision from President Biden could come as early as March.

    “I don’t know how this will all turn out if the president will sign it. That’s to be determined, to be seen. I think there’s a lot of us that are really interested in the outcome. One good thing about the process, it’s a fairly quick process when you think about it in terms of being politics,” Atwood said. “Start to finish, it’s going to end up being what, four, five, six months? I’m pleased at least that it wasn’t like we were dragging this thing out over three or four years.”

  • Florida Tomato Growers Reminded to Destroy Plants Following Final Harvest

    tomato growers
    File photo shows a tomato field in Florida.

    University of Florida/IFAS reminds tomato producers that plants must be destroyed within five days following final harvest of their crop. Under Florida law, abandoned tomato fields that have not been destroyed within five days after final harvest are subject to an Immediate Final Order per Rule, says Gene McAvoy, UF/IFAS Extension agent emeritus.

    If tomato plants are left in the field, they could attract viruses and pests, including whiteflies. This could be problematic for neighboring fields or for future crops in the tomato field.

    “Most growers are pretty good about it. They plant successive plantings, and you end up shooting yourself in the foot if you don’t clean them up pretty quickly. Most guys do, but occasionally you get a bad actor, maybe they’re leasing land and season’s not going good for them, for whatever reason, they walk away and leave it there,” McAvoy said.

    “It just becomes a festering sore. We’ve seen problems with whiteflies. We’ve seen problems with virus. We’ve seen problems in seasons where we have late blight.”

    McAvoy said growers in south Florida will plant every couple of weeks, starting in August. This provides a continuous supply of tomatoes to satisfy market demands. That means farmers may be harvesting non-stop from late October to early May.

  • Florida Hemp Research: Diseases Present, Minimal Impact

    File photo shows field of industrial hemp.

    Hemp plant diseases are present in University of Florida (UF)/IFAS research trials. But their impact has been minimal so far, says Johan Desaeger, Assistant Professor of Entomology and Nematology at the UF Gulf Coast Research and Education Center.

    “So far, honestly, we haven’t seen too much in our trials here. We’ve seen some fungal diseases some leaf spot. We’ve seen some mites; we’ve seen some worms but nothing that I would say was really causing damage to the crop. Another thing we’ve seen is nematodes. They do get nematodes, but again, we haven’t seen so far any clear evidence of damage caused by the nematodes,” he said. “They feed on the crop. We know that. They’re a host for root-knot.

    “Hemp, these plants, they put on so much roots that I feel they can kind of overcome the damage.”

    Hemp research is still in its infancy stages, not only at UF, but at universities across the Southeast. Desaeger believes as more hemp is produced across the state, diseases will become more prevalent.

    “I think they will show up eventually. I think we just haven’t seen much because we just started growing it. It often takes a few seasons and few years for these diseases and pests to come in when you start a new crop. The more we start growing hemp, I’m sure the more issues that are going to be reported,” Desaeger said. “I (also) think we’ll start learning a lot more when we have growers start to plant it in their fields. Most of the stuff we’ve done is on station, research trials, not really out there in the real world if you know what I mean.”

  • Whitefly Management: Sanitation Key Especially for Watermelon Producers

    Stormy Sparks’ message regarding whitefly management remains the same: If you’re done with the crop, get rid of that crop.

    Sanitation remains the best defense against whitefly buildup in Southeast vegetable and cotton crops. Even watermelon producers, who don’t have to contend with whiteflies as much as cantaloupe and cucumber farmers, are encouraged to do their part in preventing potential infestations in other fields.

    “Watermelons present a unique challenge because we’re dealing with so many more growers,” said Sparks, a University of Georgia Cooperative Extension vegetable specialist.

    “If you look at it from strictly a financial standpoint this season, in many cases there’s no emphasis on whitefly management in watermelons. But if we don’t get rid of the crop, we can distribute them on watermelons and then they can build up in those crops that are left standing and move into cotton. That’s basically what happens.”

    Sanitation is a key management strategy all farmers can implement when managing whiteflies. Once farmers are done harvesting their spring vegetables, they need to get rid of them.

    Watermelons Left in the Field

    But in many watermelon fields, watermelons are sometimes left in the field long after the final harvest. This can be largely attributed to “pinhookers” or people who buy the remaining watermelons in a field with the purpose of reselling them. However, this leaves a watermelon field susceptible to whitefly infestations since so much of the crop is left in a field for weeks, if not months.

    “You can find fields in the fall that were planted in the spring,” Sparks said.

    Whitefly Impact

    Whiteflies migrate from winter vegetables to spring vegetables to agronomic crops, like cotton, to fall vegetables and back to winter vegetables. Whiteflies cause feeding injury issues in vegetables and transmit two viruses: cucurbit leaf crumple virus and cucurbit yellow stunting disorder virus.

  • Hope Springs Eternal

    Photo credit: © Wayne Smith

    By Ryan Atwood

    To be a farmer is to be an optimist. Farmers work long hours, deal with weather events, labor issues, trade issues and global pandemics that are beyond their control. The 2020 Florida blueberry harvest season was a tough one due to increased imports and the coronavirus pandemic. The government did provide some assistance to farmers through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, which will help them continue forward into the coming 2021 season.

    WINTER WEATHER

    Florida blueberry growers have hedged and regrown their bushes for the year. Fall season into winter is a time for flower bud development, which gives the first indication of the crop to come. It is too early to tell what size crop Florida will produce. The Florida industry has been pretty stable in production numbers (~20 million pounds) the last few years due to some decent amount of cooler weather in the late fall and early winter.

    During the last warm (no chill) winter, the state struggled to produced 15 million pounds. This winter, climate forecasters are calling for a La Niña weather cycle. La Niña events are predicted to produce warmer temperatures and less rainfall than on average. The Florida blueberry industry has been moving to more evergreen production, which warmer weather tends to favor in terms of crop timing. A warmer winter most likely will not have quite the negative effect on statewide volumes like it has in the past.

    November tends to be the slowest month in blueberry production. Most growers take a vacation, work on getting their overhead irrigation ready for cold protection and replant new or existing ground. Things start to ramp back up in December as plant growth regulators are typically applied to stimulate the plants into flowering in January.


    In January and February, growers battle cold weather events during pollination. This leads to the setting of their berries that will be harvested in the spring. The spring brings hope of good yields with excellent quality.

    MEXICAN COMPETITION

    The unknown challenge this spring will be the ever-increasing Mexican blueberry volume during the Florida harvest window.

    Mexican blueberry production has increased dramatically over the last decade. This has led to reduced prices and returns to Florida growers. Many Florida blueberry farms have thrown in the towel the past several years. Others have turned from commercial to u-pick operations.

    The American public is growing more aware of the increase in foreign food supply. As U.S. consumers become more aware of this, the #DemandAmericanGrown campaign will continue to gain traction. We as agricultural producers need to continue (or start if you have not already begun) to educate our fellow Americans on the importance of American agriculture.

    What happens if our country were to become dependent on a foreign supply for food? We would be at the mercy of those who produce that food. This seems absurd to many Americans, as food is relatively abundant for most of our population. However, one only needs to look at socialist countries such as Cuba, Venezuela and others to see the effects of a short food supply.

    America was built on its great agricultural history. If we want to continue to be a great country, we need to be committed to local agriculture. It is a matter of national security.

    Ryan Atwood is co-owner of H&A Farms in Mt. Dora, Florida

  • Neopestalotiopsis Fruit Rot Survives in Florida Strawberry Fields

    Photo submitted by Natalia Peres/University of Florida: Shows the impact of Neopestalotiopsis Fruit Rot on Florida strawberries.

    Neopestalotiopsis Fruit Rot has impacted Florida strawberry production the last three seasons. The disease has taken a discouraging development for Florida producers this year, however, says Natalia Peres, Professor of Plant Pathology at the University of Florida/IFAS Gulf Coast Research and Education Center.

    “What we’ve seen this season is different than what we’ve seen the past two seasons. We can’t really see that link with the nursery source as much anymore. What we see is that fields that mostly had the disease last season have it again this season, which indicates that, unfortunately, the pathogen survived in our fields between seasons,” Peres said.

    Samples Taken

    During the 2018-19 crop year, 12 samples of the disease were detected from five farms. They were attributed to the same nursery source in North Carolina. In 2019-20, 48 samples were detected from 20 farms with two nursery sources, though the disease quickly spread to other fields after severe weather.

    Photo submitted by Natalia Peres/University of Florida: Shows the impact of Neopestalotiopsis Fruit Rot on Florida strawberries.

    There have been over 60 samples from 20 farms detected thus far this growing season, mostly from fields that had the disease the prior year.

    “What is really new is the aggressiveness of the disease we’re seeing in Florida. In general, this group of fungi is considered a weak pathogen. It’s more likely to be secondary and attack plants that are under some stress. But that’s definitely not the case of what we’ve seen in Florida,” Peres said.

    The disease is spread by water and can explode during prolonged periods of wetness. This is especially evident early in the season when farmers apply irrigation to get the plants established. It was also true this season when Tropical Storm Eta impacted Florida in early November.

    Disease Symptoms

    Neopestalotiopsis causes leaf spots on strawberry plants. It develops quickly and produces spores on the leaves. It can cause severe leaf spotting and fruit rot under favorable weather conditions.

    Unfortunately, it can be hard to detect because of other similar leaf spot diseases that growers must contend with like leaf scorch, leaf blotch and Cercospora leaf spot.

    “There are other leaf spots that may be confused with this one. We were getting a lot of samples in the clinic at the time and right now this season. Every leaf spot, growers are worried it could be this one. Usually, our growers are not really concerned about common leaf spots they see in the spring just because they’re much more easily controlled and not as aggressive,” Peres said.

  • Blueberry Imports Devastating to Florida Industry

    Florida’s agricultural and political leaders had their say Tuesday in describing the negative impact blueberry imports have had on the state’s farmers.

    “Agriculture is essential to Florida’s economy. Our No. 1 economy is tourism, obviously, but our No. 2, and it’s very close behind tourism is in fact agriculture. It means so much to Florida that it’s a $131 billion economic impact, providing nearly 1.4 million jobs,” said John Rutherford (FL-04), who testified during a virtual hearing with the U.S. International Trade Commission that blueberry imports are devastating to the state’s economy.

    “For years Florida has been impacted by countries taking advantage of our domestic market for produce. Growers in my district and around the state have voiced their concerns by providing data which details the harm caused by these imports. Unfortunately, as a result of these issues, many producers have had to shut down their farms through no fault of their own.”

    Statistically Speaking

    Nikki Fried, Florida Ag Commissioner, said that the state’s blueberry industry is valued at $62.3 million, but its market share has declined by 38% since 2015. Mexico’s market share has increased by 2,100% since 2009.

    Brittany Lee, Executive Director of the Florida Blueberry Growers Association and Vice President and Farm Manager of Florida Blue Farms in northeast Florida, spoke personally of how imports have impacted her family’s farm.

    “In 2010, the year we planted blueberries on my farm here, there was only 1.8 million pounds of Mexican blueberries in the Florida window which we consider March, April and May. Last year there was 51.68 million pounds in that window,” said Lee.

    “Mexico has concentrated their production in the mid-March to early April season which is directly on top of Florida. I can tell you that the impact has been absolutely devastating to the Florida industry.”

  • COVID Forces Farmers to Consider Alternate Marketing Opportunities

    Photo by Clint Thompson/Shows boxed produce being sold direct to consumers.

    COVID-19 altered the marketing plans of Southeast vegetable and specialty crop producers in 2020. Restaurants closed, which crippled certain sectors of the fruit and vegetable industry.  

    Farmers must continue to adjust as a new season approaches while the pandemic continues. Jessie Boswell, Alabama Regional Extension agent, who specializes in commercial horticulture and farm and agribusiness management, believes the pandemic’s impact has forced farmers to realize their marketing options needed to expand and could expand in 2021.

    “I think it made a lot of farmers realize how flexible they have to be and actually noticing these other marketing channels that they have, they may not have even noticed it before,” Boswell said.

    “A lot of them may not even have realized how to do those different channels. Maybe they’ve been meaning to look into it later, and this just kind of made them realize they’d have to be more flexible in kind of looking ahead more so than they were in the past.”

    Boxed Produce/CSA

    Farmers like Bill Brim in Georgia boxed their produce and sold direct to consumers to offset decreased demand. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) was another option that paid off for some producers.

    “I know of a farm and they were planning on transitioning to a CSA last spring, spring of 2020, and they were already planning that before the pandemic even happened. They had a way better year than they even could have imagined,” Boswell added. “They had already started setting up for direct to consumer or a CSA box. They sold an astronomical amount. They sold out, actually.

    “That’s probably what I have seen most people do is switch to more of an online (option) or CSA. Even some of the ones that aren’t technology savvy started selling stuff on Facebook, trying to sell their greens or whatever they had because their other marketing channels were not open.”

    Of course, encouraging some farmers to consider alternate marketing strategies is easier said than done.

    “I know a lot of farmers that like to do things the way they’ve been doing it for the past decade. They’re not always the biggest fans of change,” Boswell said.

  • Georgia Blueberry Producer: In the World I Live in, It’s a Problem

    blueberry

    Foreign imports of blueberries do not complement the U.S. domestic crop. Farmers and industry leaders in the Southeast sounded insulted about the notion that imports do not actually compete with their crop. They were asked about it during Tuesday’s virtual hearing with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC).

    “I find the comment that imports don’t affect us, it’s confusing to me, and I wonder if they’re trying to be comical,” said Jerome Crosby, Georgia blueberry grower and chairman of the American Blueberry Growers Alliance. “My farm operates both in the frozen world as well as the fresh world.

    “On the frozen side, I have watched my sales, net margin drop from about 80 to 90 cents per pound for grade A. To this year, I received 38 to 40 cents per pound to pay off my farm expenses with. In the world I live in, it’s a problem.”

  • What Next in ITC Blueberry Investigation?

    The long-awaited hearing with the International Trade Commission (ITC) for blueberry farmers has come and gone. The case against blueberry imports from foreign competitors has been made.

    Now what happens?

    Bob Redding, who works for the Redding Firm and serves as a lobbyist for agricultural groups in Washington, D.C., outlines the potential outcomes that will occur following Tuesday’s hearing. It all depends on the recommendations the ITC makes to President-Elect Joe Biden and what path he chooses to take after assumes office.

    Potential Outcomes

    “The president can ignore it, change it or accept it. This will be quickly, after the ITC action, a political issue again with the administration. Having said that, we do not know the position of the president yet, on this issue. It’s too early,” Redding said.

    “We need to get a U.S. Trade Rep in place first and we will start working with them, our congressional delegations start working with them to hopefully get a good position on that issue.”

    The case was made tougher considering the American Blueberry Growers Alliance’s opposition.

    “We have a lot of groups against us. A lot of the countries that are pushing product at a bad time of the year have hired up lawyers, economists, lobbyists and consultants to fight the American Blueberry Growers Alliance position in trying to get relief from seasonal imports at the ITC,” Redding said.