Figure 4. Adult chilli thrips have fringed wings. Photo by Lyle J. Buss, University of Florida
Various thrips species are causing problems for South Florida vegetable producers. According to the South Florida Pest and Disease Hotline, strawberry farmers have dealt with chili thrips all season in the Manatee Ruskin area. They are also showing up in pepper.
In the Miami-Dade County area, melon thrips are increasing in populations in various crops.
Along the east coast, western flower thrips are being found in pepper. From Jupiter, Florida northward, it is mostly Florida flower thrips that are a problem, though they can be controlled with insecticides.
Thrips are moving into some pepper fields around Immokalee, Florida with a few fields having counts of 10 or more thrips per bloom.
Whitefly infestations continue to increase in vegetable fields in Southwest Florida. According to the South Florida Pest and Disease Hotline, tomato fields have been greatly impacted.
Adult whiteflies are swarming young cucurbit plants, especially those transplants that have just been planted in the ground and those direct seeded crops.
Growers and scouts report that whitefly pressure is increasing in some older eggplant and tomatoes along the east coast. They are moving out of these crops and applying pressure in nearby fields.
Reports from farmers in Homestead, Florida, indicate that whiteflies are high in tomatoes and other crops. Maybe just as significant is that Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus incidence is moderate to high in the majority of tomato fields.
Count Kim Jamerson as another Florida vegetable producer who is being negatively impacted by imports from Mexico.
“I’ve got a bad taste in my mouth for Mexico,” said Jamerson in Fort Myers, Florida.
She farms approximately 1,280 acres of produce in south Florida, including eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, cucumber and green pepper.
Jamerson struggles to keep pace with Mexican imports in pepper production. It costs her $9.50 per box to break even, which accounts for labor, diesel and the box itself.
“They’re bringing in pepper for like $1.95 and they’re bringing it on commission, a whole box of peppers, which means they can sell it for $0.50 a box. I’m not saying that they did, I’m saying that they could,” Jamerson said. “That is a really bad situation.”
What can be Done?
Jamerson is trying to coordinate with the Florida Ag Commissioner’s office and Florida Senator Marco Rubio to try to find a reasonable solution. She proposes that a limited amount of pepper be brought into Florida and also believes Mexico needs to be importing at $9.50 per box. That’s the price that farmers must break even for, not even make money off of.
“The other night at 3 o’clock in the morning, I was out at our farm in my pajamas in pouring down rain trying to save our bell peppers. I’m stupid, because what I should have done was let all those bell peppers drown and collect my insurance I have on it,” Jamerson said. “I would have made more money by collecting the insurance that I had them insured for instead of saving them to compete against a $1.95 box of pepper from Mexico.”
Bell Pepper Imports
University of Florida Associate Professor Zhengfei Guan describes in a webinar how much bell pepper imports have risen in the last two decades. In 2000, Florida production totaled more than 600 million pounds, while Mexican imports tallied approximately 300 million pounds. In 2019, Florida production dropped to under 400 million pounds, compared to Mexico with more than a billion pounds.
The future looks bleak for the future of American farmers. Producers like Sam Accursio are already signaling an end to their agricultural careers in the near future.
“I don’t see the next generation farming unless they go into some kind of import business and buy produce from out of the country, call themselves farmers and sell it. I don’t see them out there at 3 o’clock in the morning in the pajamas, making no money. Who’s going to do that?” Jamerson added.
Florida producers have been protesting Mexican imports and the devastating impact they’re having on market prices for years. But just how bad have imports from Mexico been in several key commodities?
University of Florida Associate Professor Zhengfei Guan describes in a webinar how much imports have risen in the last two decades.
Strawberries
“In 2000, strawberry imports from Mexico were one-third of the total production in Florida, while in 2019, Mexican imports were two times higher than the Florida production,” Guan said.
Florida strawberries totaled approximately 220 million pounds in 2000 compared to Mexico’s 70 million. Almost 20 years later, Florida production was about 200 million pounds compared to Mexico’s 405 million.
Blueberries
Mexican imports of blueberries were non-existent before 2009. But in 2019 they totaled a little more than 90 million pounds, compared to Florida’s approximate 24 million.
“The blueberry case is even more surprising. This shows how fast Mexico can catch up once it gets into the game. Imports in 2019 were roughly four times higher than Florida production, growing more than a 100-fold over 10 years,” Guan said.
Vegetables
The disparity in production is not isolated to fruits. Florida produced 1.6 billion pounds of tomatoes in 2000, 20% higher than Mexico. But now imports from Mexico are five times higher than Florida production.
Mexico imported approximately 3.6 billion pounds in 2019 compared to Florida’s approximate 750 million.
“Florida production has dropped 50% over the last 20 years,” Guan said.
It’s a similar concern for bell pepper farmers. Florida production in 2000 doubled what was imported from Mexico. But in 2019, Mexican imports totaled more than a billion pounds, compared to Florida which totaled a little more than 300 million.
“The consequences for Florida is not just shrinking market share but depressed market prices. Over the last 15 years, blueberry prices have dropped from $6.30 per pound to $2.60. The prices for other crops were basically flat,” Guan said.
Citrus Greening has devastated Florida’s citrus industry. The state’s strawberry producers are concerned about their future with Neopestalotiopsis Fruit Rot disease.
Photo by Natalia Peres/UF: Shows the effect of Neopestalotiopsis Fruit Rot on strawberries.
It may still be in its infancy, but Neopestalotiopsis Fruit Rot is taking its toll on the Florida strawberry industry. One Florida producer is concerned about its impact moving forward.
“I would call it the ‘Greening of strawberries,’” said Matt Parke, farm manager of Parkesdale Farms in Plant City, Florida. “There’s no cure for it, as we know. This is the third season that we know what it is, and we still have more questions than answers.”
Decreased Volume
Parke said volume has been way off this year, maybe two-thirds of what last year’s crop produced. It varies from farmer to farmer. While the weather played a role in decreased production, so has Neopestalotiopsis.
“The whole industry was impacted by it, I think,” Parke said. “Just on one pick, I probably threw 400 flats to the acre on the ground. They were just totally ate up with it.
“I would say for the next three years, it’s going to take a hit on our industry.”
Disease Background
The disease has quickly spiraled out of control in three years. It was first discovered during the 2018-19 season in five farms and was attributed to one nursery source in North Carolina. More than 20 farms experienced the disease during the 2019-20 season, and the disease was attributed to two nursery sources early in the season in North Carolina and Canada.
It was discovered this year in fields that had it the prior season.
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.
Florida Grower: It’s not going to be like it was last year
File photo shows highbush blueberries.
It’s a tale of two seasons for Florida blueberry growers. Producers were early with last year’s crop but encountered COVID-19 that kept prices low.
This year’s cooler weather has slowed the growth of the blueberry crop, which means it’ll likely be ready for its normal timeframe. Hopefully, that’ll mean better prices for growers like Ryan Atwood.
“The weather was colder for January and for a good bit of February. Weather’s been warming up of late. We’re probably catching up here a little bit lately. It’s not going to be like it was last year,” said 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. “That was horrible the way that all played out last year. It was almost like the rug getting yanked out underneath your feet. But you live to fight another day.”
Warmer Temperatures in 2020
A milder winter last year accelerated growth in last year’s blueberries. Atwood started picking high volumes of blueberries around March 18. But it also coincided with the pandemic shutting down the country. Market prices reflected the pandemic’s impact.
Early harvests have already begun for this year’s crop.
“We started scrapping, lightly picking on Evergreen stuff,” Atwood said. “We’re a ways off from the main part of our crop. We grow a small acreage of evergreen production. But most of our production is deciduous production, and that won’t crank up til later. “We picked 400, 500 pounds two weeks ago. Then we picked 1,800 pounds last week. Now, we’re picking 3,000 pounds this week.”
South Florida farms had record levels of Asian bean thrips (ABT) populations last week. Others experienced a reduction in thrips counts, however.
According to the University of Florida/IFAS, farms in southeastern Hendry County reported infestations as low as 0.2 ABT per bud and between 0.1 and 0.2 ABT per bloom (at full bloom) but were as high as 1.9 ABT per bud and 6.2 ABT per bloom (at full bloom). This is the highest reported population levels at this stage in Hendry County and may lead to yield loss.
ABT populations at this location in the previous cycle of Dec. 18 were just 0.1 ABT per bloom at full bloom.
In central Hendry County, populations increased, but there was a wide range of 0.2 to 0.8 ABT per bloom at full bloom, while in northern Collier County, ABT was reported at 0.2 ABT per bloom in plantings at full bloom, with most plantings already harvested.
In eastern Palm Beach County, reports indicate background populations have steadied between 0.1 and 0.3 ABT per bloom amid aggressive insecticide programs.
Farmers themselves are hinting that the end is near for their career in the field, amid increasing costs, decreasing prices and steady imports from Mexico.
One significant help would come in reform to the current H-2A guestworker program, according to Allison Crittenden, Director of Congressional Relations at the American Farm Bureau Federation. American farmers need it now more than ever.
“Without addressing Ag Labor reform and without making changes to the H-2A program to enable farmers to have access to a workforce and still be able to make the business structure work and enable them to become competitive; if we don’t fix these problems, then American agriculture is in danger,” Crittenden said. “If we don’t have a workforce, how can we produce crops in this country?”
Rising Wage Prices
Reform is mainly needed because prices have risen significantly over the past five years. Crittenden said the national average for the Adverse Effect Wage Rate has increased by 20% in the last five years. Following the latest wage increase, Florida’s hourly rate is $12.08, while Georgia and Alabama are $11.81. That’s not counting additional costs for housing and transportation.
“This is all occurring against the backdrop that prices are rather stagnant in terms of labor-intensive crops. There’s a lot of downward pressure from imports from other countries where those employees in those countries get paid in a day where American H-2A workers get paid in an hour here,” Crittenden said. “We have to find a way to enable farmers to remain competitive while providing them access to that labor force that we so desperately need.”
Potential Solution?
Two members of the House of Representatives introduced a potential solution last week with the Farm Workforce Modernization Act. It would reform H-2A wages to better reflect real-world wages while protecting against sudden wage increases.
“We need an immediate solution, but we have to be careful about what we consider to be a solution. We haven’t addressed Ag Labor reform in a substantive way in over 30 years. It’s critically important that we get it right this time around when we do,” Crittenden said.
If you happen to travel around Wimauma, Florida, you will see many plastic tunnels and may wonder what they are. Asian farmers (mostly Vietnamese) are using those plastic tunnels to grow a wide variety of specialty Asian vegetable crops.
Root-knot nematode galls on pumpkin roots
There is a high demand for these vegetables from northern cities such as New York and Chicago, especially during the winter. In the United States, the demand for ethnic and specialty vegetables is rapidly increasing, and Asian vegetables have become one of the most popular specialty crops. The growing population of Asians, the blooming ethnic cuisine restaurants, and the demand from American consumers for Asian vegetables in their diet has boosted Asian vegetable production in Florida.
The climate in Florida is very favorable year-round for growing many of the popular Asian vegetables. According to the 2019-20 Vegetable Production Handbook of Florida, currently more than 40 Asian vegetables are grown on 8,000 acres across Florida (with an increase of more than 3,400 acres over the past years). Some of the most common Asian vegetables grown in Florida include bok choy, long bean, bitter gourd, Thai basil, Malabar spinach, water spinach and mizuna.
Recommendations for weed, insect and disease management in Asian vegetables have been published in the handbook. However, nematode management recommendations for these specialty vegetables are not available, and few growers are even aware of the existence of nematodes in their fields. Also, most of these ethnic farms are typically small (less than 50 acres), and many of them do not have pesticide licenses due to the language barrier. Because of this, these farmers tend to be isolated and have limited access to pest and disease management information.
WHAT WAS FOUND
During the past year, postdoctoral associates from the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Gulf Coast Research and Education Center (GCREC) nematology laboratory led an effort to visit some of the ethnic vegetable farms in Wimauma. The objective was to learn more about the crops that are grown and if nematodes are a problem. Most farmers were unaware of a nematode problem, but results indicated that five of the six surveyed farms did have visible nematode damage in the form of stunted and chlorotic plants. A total of 16 different vegetables were sampled, mostly leafy, but also some fruiting and root vegetables (Table 1).
Table 1. Plant-parasitic nematodes found on different ethnic Asian vegetables grown in Florida
Root-knot nematodes were the most commonly found and appeared to cause the most damage. Other potentially damaging nematodes that were found were sting, stubby root and lesion nematodes. While it is not known how much damage nematodes cause on these farms, Thai basil, pumpkin, Malabar spinach, Indian taro, sweet potato, jute, bitter gourd, luffa and Chinese eggplant showed visible aboveground symptoms, such as leaf yellowing and wilting.
Plant-parasitic nematodes are microscopic roundworms that feed on living plant tissues. Most nematode species feed on the belowground parts of plants like roots and tubers, although some species feed on aboveground plant parts, which can sometimes be seen on strawberries in Florida. There are no typical aboveground symptoms of nematodes feeding on roots, and often their damage may be misidentified with other causes such as nutrient or water deficiency, or diseases related to bacteria or fungi (stunting, wilting and yellowing).
It is estimated that global agriculture production loses more than $100 billion annually due to nematode damage. In Florida, year-round warm weather and high humidity create a perfect habitat for many plant-parasitic nematodes, and nematode damage can be very severe, especially in sandy soils.
NON-CHEMICAL CONTROLS
Since most Asian vegetable crops do not have a pesticide label, growers must rely mostly on non-chemical nematode management methods. Sanitation should always be the first recourse against nematodes.
Growers should select sites with no or low nematode populations and avoid the introduction of nematodes into the field. It may be tedious, but it is important to clean farm equipment before and after working in different fields.
A common way that nematodes are introduced into fields is through infected plant material (transplants or tubers). While it is generally difficult to recognize whether plant material is infected with nematodes, in the case of root-knot nematodes, the presence of galls or knots on roots of transplants or tubers is a telltale sign. However, nematode galls can easily be overlooked when they are small or when roots are covered with soil. For most other nematodes, no real diagnostic root symptoms can be observed on planting material, and proper diagnosis will need to be done at a nematology lab.
Frequent applications of organic amendments (animal and green manures, compost, etc.) will increase soil organic matter and microbial activity while stimulating natural enemies that may reduce the damage caused by plant-parasitic nematodes.
Crop rotation with nematode poor-host plants could be another option for Asian vegetable growers, but not enough is known now on nematode host status of Asian vegetables to make good recommendations. Planting cover crops in between vegetable crops is a widely adopted nematode-management strategy. For managing root-knot nematodes, sunn hemp and sorghum-sudangrass are recommended as cover crops since they are known to be poor hosts.
The GCREC laboratory can help growers identify if they have nematode problems in their fields. Soil and root samples can be submitted to the laboratory free of charge. For more information, contact hungbui@ufl.edu (English or Vietnamese) or gumengyi@ufl.edu (English or Chinese).
Mengyi Gu is a postdoctoral associate, Hung Xuan Bui is a postdoctoral research associate, and Johan Desaeger is an assistant professor — all at the UF/IFAS GCREC in Wimauma.
Another vegetable season means another chance for Mexican imports to deflate market prices. For one Florida producer, the consistent supply of imported cucumbers and squash could lead to an unexpected early retirement.
Cucumbers.
“We cannot make a move without checking to see what Mexico’s doing first. It’s very disheartening for a man that was charged by God to feed the world,” Sam Accursio said. “It’s a strange feeling that this is all I’ve done for the last 35 years and I see it ending.
“Free trade is putting growers out of business. The ones that are lucky enough to have assets, they will sell their assets, and we will rely on third-world countries to feed this great nation. We’re selling what we harvest but at below production costs.”
Background
Accursio produces pickle and cucumber, green beans, and yellow and green squash on 4,400 acres in the Homestead, Florida area. Between unfair trade and the lack of skilled labor, challenges continue to mount for Accursio and other producers like himself. He insists they will farm next year. But who knows after that?
“We still have (around) 60 days of harvest. I feel we’re going to pay the bills. I’m optimistic that we are,” Accursio said. “We will go again next year. But the battle we’re fighting, I think there’s too many obstacles.”
USITC Investigation
The U.S. International Trade Commission is currently seeking input for two factfinding investigations on the impact of imported cucumbers and squash on the domestic seasonal markets. The USITC will hold a public hearing with the investigations on April 8. But considering the unanimous verdict the USITC already rendered that said imported blueberries do not cause serious injury to the domestic crop, there is little hope for vegetable farmers like Accursio.
“I think as a nation we’re screwed until we do something about the imports coming through that border. We’ve been fighting this fight for 40 years, 35 years. Growers are dropping left and right and there’s no young bucks coming in to take our place,” Accursio added. “It’s a little scary for young people.”
