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  • Soil Sampling: Management Practice Key for Upcoming Season

    Photo by Mike Riffle/Shows supplies needed to take soil sample.

    One of the most overlooked management practices for vegetable and specialty crop producers is also one of the most essential this time of year.

    Soil sampling can save producers money by providing valuable information about the nutrient content in their soils. It is a more efficient means of preparing for the upcoming season instead of just guessing, said Joe Kemble, Alabama Extension vegetable specialist.

    “Right now, fertilizer costs are high. You really don’t need to use anymore than you have to. That’s the key of getting a soil test done,” Kemble said. “Plus, it will also give you a lime recommendation. Ideally, we try to lime a few months ahead of time before we put a crop out. Some lime is better than no lime, even if it’s not timely. Adjusting your soil’s pH, getting out your fertilizers, based on your soils test, I think that’s an excellent thing to do while you’re waiting for your fields to dry off.”

    Sample Boxes Available

    Kemble said there are sample boxes available in Alabama and provides instructions on how to properly take a sample. Producers can also search Alabama Extension for additional information that specify what is needed to take a soil sample.

    “It is easily the most overlooked agronomic practice that I run into. The reason I know that is because I see it on the other side. A grower calls me up and says, ‘I’ve got a problem.’ Normally, the very first thing I ask them for is a copy of their soil test because that’s going to help me rule out some things,” Kemble said.

    “Unfortunately, in Alabama, a lot of soils tend to become more acidic over time. The pH keeps going down and down and down. You can get into a situation where you’re not getting the yields you used to get, and you keep putting more and more fertilizer out and not getting the yields you think you should get. It could be tied to soil pH.”

    Multiple Crops

    Growers can also request multiple results for the same acre if they want to grow different crops. The sample will yield data relevant to growing tomatoes and a cucurbit, for example.

    It is a cheap method to utilize compared to the high cost of fertilizers and takes the guesswork out of the equation.

    “Normally, you’re going to be sampling, based on the size of the field; from a handful of samples to a couple of dozen depending on how big your area is. You mark it based on the area and the crop that you want to grow. The sample goes off to the lab, and it gets analyzed,” Kemble said.

    “You’ll get the results based on the particular crop you want to grow. It’ll say where your nutrients are at in the soil based on the availability within the soil for the specific crops that you want to grow.”

  • North Carolina Festival Canceled

    Troxler

    RALEIGH – Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler has announced the cancellation of the 2021 Got to Be NC Festival, citing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

    “We are making progress in the state getting people vaccinated against this deadly virus, but we still have a ways to go in these efforts before a larger percentage of the population is vaccinated,” Troxler said. “We want people to be able to come out and safely enjoy all the fun activities offered at the Got to Be NC Festival, but it doesn’t make sense at this time to try to hold this annual event.

    “I encourage folks to get vaccinated when it is their turn, so we can return to having events like the festival and the N.C. State Fair,” he said. “Our staff is busy planning for the 2021 State Fair and we are looking forward to this fall tradition.”

    The Got to Be NC Festival highlights North Carolina’s agriculture and agribusiness industry, including North Carolina food products. Go to the Got to Be NC webpage at https://gottobenc.com to find products showcased at the festival.

    NCDA&CS Public Affairs Division

  • Pecan Nominations: Deadline for Promotion Board is March 26

    georgia pecan

    Attention pecan producers who are interested in serving on the American Pecan Promotion Board. The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is seeking nominations for pecan growers. The deadline is Friday, March 26.

    Eligibility requirements include that producers and importers must have produced or imported more than 50,000 pounds of inshell pecans or 25,000 pounds of shelled pecans on average for four fiscal periods.

    The 17-member American Pecan Promotion Board will consist of 10 producers and seven importers. The 10 producers will be divyed between three regions within the United States as follows: three from the Eastern Region; three from the Central Region; and four from the Western Region.  Initial board members’ terms will be staggered. The USDA will assign the terms of two, three and four years. Each member’s term will begin when the USDA approves the final nominations.

    Growers who produce pecans in more than one region may only seek a nomination in the region in which they produce the majority of their pecans.

    If you are interested in serving as a producer member, please submit your nominations to info@americanpecan.com. You may also contact Jeff Smutny at (817) 916-0020.  

    USDA is conducting nominations for importer members. Please submit nominations to Patricia Petrella at Patricia.Petrella@usda.gov.

    News from Georgia Farm Bureau.

  • Industry in Decline: Citrus Greening, Irma Impacting Florida Citrus Production

    Citrus greening has contributed to the industry’s decline in Florida.

    Florida citrus production has decreased for almost two decades. According to Marisa Zansler, director of economic and market research at the Florida Department of Citrus, the two main factors for the state’s steady decline are citrus greening (huanglongbing, known as HLB) and Hurricane Irma.

    Staggering Statistics

    Zansler presented staggering statistics during the Florida Agricultural Policy Outlook Conference on Feb. 26 that showed how production has decreased since 2003–04. It was the season before citrus greening emerged as a threat to the state’s citrus industry.

    Florida is projected to produce 56 million boxes of oranges this season, which would be the state’s second smallest citrus output in the last 20 years.

    “Florida citrus production is projected to decrease 18.5% compared to last season. That’s largely due to an increase in fruit drop this season. This could very well be a lingering effect from Hurricane Irma back in September 2017 just as harvesting of the crop was set to commence,” Zansler said.

    Fruit Drop

    According to the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, postbloom fruit drop affects all cultivars of citrus but cases can be severe depending on bloom emergence in relation to rainfall. Navel and Valencia oranges experience the most damage because they can have multiple blooms.

    Due to Hurricane Irma’s impact, Florida’s 2017–2018 citrus season yielded the smallest orange output at around 45 million boxes. To put that into context, the season before HLB took a stranglehold on the state’s citrus industry, Florida produced 242 million boxes of oranges.

    “Orange production right now, which accounts for 91% of Florida’s certified citrus production or is projected to exceed 90% this season, is estimated to decline nearly 20%,” Zansler said. “Florida production of oranges today at 56 million boxes (the USDA forecast for February) is actually less than a quarter of what it was back in the 2003–04 season.”

  • Climate Change: Weather Event Impacting Agriculture

    File photo shows satsuma oranges. Satsuma production is growing in Georgia amid climate change.

    Climate change is impacting the agricultural industry across the U.S. Increased temperatures since the latter part of the 20th century have had a major impact on farming operations, especially in the Southeast.

    Pam Knox, University of Georgia Extension Agricultural Climatologist, spoke about the impact climate change has had on farmers during a discussion with the U.S. House Agriculture Committee.

    “We know agriculture and forestry are highly affected by swings in weather and climate. Year-to-year changes in temperature and precipitation can be hard for farmers to deal with. Making a bad choice in crops and management practices can be costly,” Knox said.

    Increased Temperatures

    “Average temperatures in the U.S. have gone up almost 2 degrees Fahrenheit in the last 60 years. Higher temperatures mean longer growing seasons… more time for diseases and pests that threaten crops and a more unpredictable water cycle,” Knox said. “It also means more extreme events, such as heat waves, droughts and floods that put farmers and foresters at risk by destroying crops and forests and flooding fields and pastures.”

    Knox added that although agriculture and forestry are affected by climate, those industries contribute to warmer temperatures by adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere and changing the surface of the land.

    “To top it off, between 30% and 40% of all the food produced is never used. This means that the fuel, water and fertilizer that’s used to produce it is wasted. More greenhouse gases are produced as that food waste is dumped into landfills and tractors and water pumps are run for no good reason,” Knox said.

    Fighting Back

    Those two industries can also play key roles in fighting back against climate change. Knox said that planting cover crops can prevent greenhouse gas emissions tied to fertilizers and irrigation by keeping water, carbon and nutrients in the ground. Producing more trees and improving crop land productivity can pull carbon dioxide from the air.

    Farmers Adapting

    Farmers have also adapted to the new conditions.

    “Some farmers are taking advantages of the longer growing seasons by double cropping or growing new crops like satsumas and olives in Georgia, for example,” Knox said. “Foresters are testing out new varieties of pine and other commercial tree varieties that can survive and thrive in the future. Many producers are also using smart irrigation techniques and other climate smart management practices to use water efficiently while protecting and improving the soils.”

    She added that information and training need to be available so farmers can learn how to best use their land.

  • Immigration Reform: Ag Leaders Sound Off on Timely Topic

    A farmworker cuts romaine for harvest.

    The USDA’s Agricultural Outlook Forum recently highlighted various topics surrounding the future of the industry.

    Two agricultural leaders discussed one issue that has been at the industry’s forefront in the Southeast – immigration reform.

    National Council of Farmer Cooperatives President and CEO Chuck Conner said immigration reform has long been a hot issue discussed in Washington D.C. but has failed to yield any change over the last decade; despite a shortage of farm workers and increasing wages within the H-2A program.

    “This problem is still out there. In fact, it’s getting worse. We’ve got a lot of undocumented workers on our farms and ranches. They need some kind of legal status. We talk about the amazing accomplishments of American agriculture throughout COVID,” Conner said. “We couldn’t do what we do every day without the existence of these workers, pure and simple, so we need to keep them on our farms and ranches. We need to pull them out of the shadows and give them the legal authority to work on those places.”

    American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall echoed Conner’s sentiments.

    “It’s the biggest limiting factor that agriculture has. We’ve got young people coming out of college that want to have jobs in agriculture. We’ve got farmers that are ready to bring their children back home. They’ve got the land and resources and the water. But they don’t have the labor to expand to be able to afford to bring their children back home with them,” Duvall said. “We’ve got to solve this program. I hope that Congress will take it head on and find some solutions to it.”

    H-2A Program

    The H-2A program allows farmers who meet specific regulatory requirements to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary agricultural jobs. But H-2A wages for 2021 just increased and are threatening to skyrocket if the Biden Administration gets its $15 minimum wage. As costs increase and Mexico continues to dump produce and drive market prices down, farmers are struggling to stay afloat.    

    “We have a vibrant guest worker program in this country where we temporarily bring people into the country to do agricultural work. This is a very difficult and cumbersome program for our farmers, and in particular, for our smaller farmers who are trying to make ends meet,” Conner added. “The bureaucracy and the cost of our H-2A guest worker program is just making it almost prohibitive for them to survive. We need reform for that guest worker program.”

    Duvall added, “It’s got to be affordable. Our employees deserve to be paid a good salary. But our farmers have got to be able to afford it because we’re price takers, not price makers. They’ve got to be able to afford it so we can continue to provide those jobs and continue to grow food on our farms.”

  • Mighty Mites: UF Scientists Provide Information for Hemp Producers

    UF/IFAS photo/This is a photo of a predatory mite, Phytoseiulus persimilis feed on a twospotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae)

    University of Florida researchers have released information about mites that could impact the state’s hemp producers.

    The mites can cause devastation to hemp produced in fields and greenhouses. These include hemp russet mites, broad mites and spider mites.

    “These pests can attack hemp by distorting growth, causing defoliation and even killing plants,” said Lance Osborne, a professor of entomology at the UF/IFAS Mid-Florida Research and Education Center, in a UF/IFAS press release .

    A 30-minute presentation on mites can be viewed at the following website, Mites of Industrial Hemp in Florida. Osborne narrates the video, while Juanita Popenoe, a UF/IFAS Extension agent specializing in commercial fruit production for Lake, Orange and Marion counties, and research entomologist Cindy McKenzie of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (USDA/ARS) at the U.S. Horticulture Laboratory, co-authored the new document.

    “The video explores the most important groups of mites, how to identify them, latest research available on chemical and biological control methods and more,” Osborne said.

    Producers can learn how to prevent mites from entering their greenhouses and how to scout for them in fields. Growers can also learn about symptoms to look out for.

    Click here for more information.

  • Dumping Produce: Mexican Imports Flooding Market

    It is the same old story that Florida producers have, unfortunately, grown accustomed to.

    Another week, another dose of vegetable imports from Mexico that diminish market prices. Florida farmers continue to take the brunt of financial punishment.

    Gene McAvoy, University of Florida Regional Vegetable Extension Agent IV Emeritus, confirmed the dire news that Mexican produce continues to flood the American market, driving down producer prices.

    “The only problem is Mexico is dumping a bunch of pepper and tomato. We’re seeing in places like $5 for tomato and $2 to $3 for pepper on consignment. Break-even is somewhere north of $8.50. We’d like to get $12 to $15 a box,” McAvoy said.

    “Some of our growers wonder if the fact that the blueberry decision they found against the Southeast blueberry growers, that might have given them the green light to go ahead and do whatever they want again.”

    Blueberry Decision

    The blueberry decision refers to the verdict rendered by the International Trade Commission that imports did not do serious injury to blueberry’s domestic industry. The commission arrived at the decision despite overwhelming evidence that Mexico and other countries had garnered the market share, while Florida producers struggled to compete.

    A main issue with the vegetable industry is Mexico is not simply selling produce, it is ‘dumping’ it for cheap prices.

    “The cardboard box that you put the pepper in, in the United States it’s a $1.75, $1.78, somewhere in that vicinity. How do you sell that product for $2 to $3? Their boxes cost as much as our boxes, if not more, you know what I mean?” McAvoy said. “They’re simply dumping, and they get away with it.”

  • Plastic Makes Perfect: Vegetable System Producers More, Cleaner Fruit

    File photo shows tomatoes growing in plasticulture.

    Planting season is nearing for Alabama vegetable producers. One system that all farmers need to consider is plasticulture. Plastic mulches can lead to cleaner fruit with much more yields.

    Joe Kemble, Alabama Extension vegetable specialist, discussed the benefits of producing tomatoes in a plasticulture system during a webinar on Tuesday.

    It starts with yields.

    “Using these plastic mulches just by themselves can result in yields 1.5 to 3 times over average of what you would normally produce,” Kemble said.

    Plastic mulches also allow farmers to apply nutrients and water more efficiently, since they would be applied underground.

    “It allows you to precisely apply fertilizer and water because you have drip irrigation tape underneath. There’s no other way to get water under there because these are raised beds, so you’ve got to use drip irrigation along with it,” Kemble said.

    The use of drip irrigation also leads to cleaner fruit. There is less water splashing on the bottom of the fruit and subsequent splashing up into the plant canopy.

    One of its most important features, though, is it allows farmers to reach the market earlier.

    “Earliness in the fresh market is typically when you make more money. If I’m a commercial grower and I’m earlier than my neighbor, chances are I’m going to make a little bit more money than they would,” Kemble said.

    A plasticulture system can be utilized on various scales, from large-scale farmers to homeowners’ gardens.

    “There’s lots of options for people wanting to try something like this,” Kemble said.

  • Brighter Days: Sunshine Sparks Growth in Vidalia Onions

    Georgia Vidalia onion producers experienced much-needed sunshine last week. It allowed them to get back into the field and apply fertilizer and fungicide sprays, says Chris Tyson, University of Georgia Extension Area Onion Agent at the Vidalia Onion & Vegetable Research Center in Lyons, Georgia.

    Photo by UGA/Shows Chris Tyson in an onion field.

    “Growers were wide open last week trying to get caught up with fertilizer and with fungicides. I feel like, for the most part, we got caught up or close to being caught up with what we needed to be,” Tyson said. “If we had another rainy week, we would have probably been in trouble then, if we weren’t able to get in the fields last week.”

    Plants had been slowed a bit amidst the excessive rainfall Georgia experienced most of February. But they showed encouraging signs of growth during the 70- and 80-degree temperatures.

    “I tell you, they really have made some headway in the last week with the warm weather and sunshine. They have grown a lot,” Tyson said. “They have that ability to catch up really fast when we get favorable weather. We are still a little below average on our size of the crop and where we should be, but we’ve gained a lot of ground in the last 10 days.”

    Main Concern Now

    Tyson said growers’ biggest concern now is staying up to date on their fungicide applications.

    “We just want to make sure we’re caught up in managing our diseases with our fungicide sprays to the best of our ability. As we enter into this second phase of the crop where it’s going to start to get big tops and start bulbing, we’re watching for Botrytis and Stemphylium, (Center Rot) and Downy Mildew. That’s the main thing really, that’s on a lot of their minds I think,” Tyson said.