GFVGA Advises Growers to Schedule Vaccines for Farmworkers

Web AdminCoronavirus, Georgia, Top Posts

The Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association (GFVGA) encourages its members to begin communications with local health providers so their farmworkers can get vaccinated. This followed the announcement from Governor Brian Kemp that beginning Thursday, March 25, all Georgians aged 16 and older were eligible for the vaccines. GFVGA continues to communicate with the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) …

North Carolina Strawberry Growers Be Wary of Weekend Weather

Web AdminNorth Carolina, Top Posts, Weather

N.C. State Extension recommends strawberry producers to secure their row covers to protect against high wind speeds and to implement cooling measures against warmer temperatures now and into the weekend. Increasing temperatures are expected to be 10 to 20 degrees above normal, especially in the mid-Atlantic area. This will undoubtedly speed up the development of buds and blooms this weekend. …

Vegetable Farmer: We’re Going to Start Dropping Like Flies Eventually

Web AdminExports/Imports, Florida, Georgia, Top Posts, Trade

What would it look and feel like for the United States to be totally dependent on foreign countries for food? While it’s a scenario that might seem unfathomable for some, it’s a proposition that keeps inching closer to reality. “If things don’t change and they keep going the course they’re going, people are going to look up one day and …

Sweet Find: UF/IFAS Scientists Sequence DNA to Grow Domestic Mango Industry

Web AdminFlorida, Mangos, Top Posts

Source: UF/IFAS HOMESTEAD, Fla. – One of the most important mango varieties across the world has been sequenced by scientists at the University of Florida. It’s an important breakthrough for the ‘Tommy Atkins’ mango – a variety that originated from Florida and is valued for its long shelf life, pest resilience and other key beneficial traits. The scientists at UF’s …

Another Challenging Season for Florida’s Blueberry Producers

Web AdminBerries, Florida, Top Posts

A late crop, a topsy-turvy market and a consistent influx of produce coming in from Mexico – just another challenging year for Florida’s blueberry growers. Chuck Allison, blueberry farmer and owner of Wild Goose Farms in Umatilla, Florida, said the cooler winter has delayed harvests this year. “We’re getting started. We picked last week a couple of times. We’re getting …

Expanding Production: U.S. Sugar to Better Serve Customers

Web AdminFlorida, Sugar, Top Posts

Acquisition of Imperial Sugar provides U.S. Sugar’s and Imperial Sugar’s customers with increased production and distribution, a full suite of sugar products, and a more secure sugar supply CLEWISTON, FLORIDA — An acquisition on Wednesday by U.S. Sugar returns Imperial Sugar to All-American owernship. U.S. Sugar announced on Wednesday it has reached an agreement with Louis Dreyfus Company to acquire …

Sneak Peek: April 2021 VSCNews Magazine

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The April issue of VSCNews magazine explores biodiversity, conservation funding, watermelons and a variety of other topics. First up, an article by University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) professor Oscar Liburd and postdoctoral research associate Lorena Lopez, discusses how to control sweetpotato whiteflies with biological control agents like predatory mites in squash production. Conservation funding from the …

Resistant Varieties Key Against Anthracnose

Web AdminAlabama, Cucurbits, Disease, Top Posts

It is never too early to start thinking about cucurbit disease management in Alabama. In the case of anthracnose, producers who are planting their crops are best served by utilizing resistant varieties, according to Ed Sikora, professor and Extension plant pathologist in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at Auburn University. “I was just looking through the Southeast Handbook …

Letter Highlights ‘Deteriorating Trade Relationship’ with Mexico

Web AdminExports/Imports, Top Posts, Trade

The vegetable and specialty crop sector was highlighted this week in a letter sent by several organizations, including American Farm Bureau Federation, to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai. The organizations spoke of a “trade relationship with Mexico that has declined markedly, a trend USMCA’s implementation has not reversed.” Among the concerns brought forth include organic …

USDA Applauded: Commissioner Fried Speaks on USDA’s Pandemic Assistance

Web AdminFlorida, Top Posts

Tallahassee, FL — Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried applauded the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) $6 billion in expanded pandemic assistance on Wednesday. This will aid specialty crop and seasonal produce growers who did not benefit sufficiently from last year’s USDA assistance. “Florida’s proud farmers, ranchers, and growers have had a tough year, working to overcome half a billion dollars …