Georgia's pecan season has closed, and numbers are not looking good for growers. Whether it was market prices or hurricane damage, this is looking to be the "worst year we've had, by far..." according to Lenny Wells, University of Georgia Extension pecan specialist. Wells said, "I know a lot of growers out there that are discouraged. I’ve talked to some that are trying to make decisions, with the way that the hurricane was, about whether to...
Florida Farm Bureau Federation (FFBF), Agriculture Education Services & Technology, Inc. (AEST), and Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association (FNGLA) put on LINC Conference for the third year in Daytona Beach Shores, FL. LINC stands for "Linking the Industry Network through Certifications". The conference had over 100 attendees and held workshops with topics ranging from how cut beef, to starting careers in the nursery industry....
Living in Florida, we are no strangers to a hurricane. We are used to see impacts from these storms such as closed schools, empty gas stations, and empty grocery stores, but what most of us don't see are the impacts that these storms have on farmers and ranchers. Wind damage, flooding, infrastructure damage, long-term impacts and economic effects are all things that a farmer or rancher has to think about before storms, and also full gas tanks,...
The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) has discovered that muscadine grapes can detach from the vine more easily, leading to the possibility of mechanical harvesting instead of paying for manual labor to harvest the grapes by hand. The grapes detach at the pedicel, the stalk holding the fruit to the plant, and in muscadine grapes this pedicel is quite strong, leading to a stronger force needed to remove...
A webinar titled "Communicating With Farmers Under Stress" is going to be held on August 6, 2024 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET and is lead by Penn State University Extension Service. As mental health concerns are on the rise for farmers and ranchers, it is more important than ever to start having conversations about the future of the farm or ranch. This webinar is meant for agriculture industry professionals, loan officers, family members, farmers,...
With peaches coming into season, let's explore how to pick the perfect peach! Firstly, there are over 300 different varieties of peaches grown in the US including clingstone and freestone. Clingstone peaches are difficult to remove from the pit, but they are juicier and sweeter than freestone which easily come apart from the pit, but they are firmer and better for baking. There are also semi-freestone peaches that are a hybrid that are sweet and...
In early spring to summer, a white to grayish-white powder may start to appear on your azalea, blueberry, and squash plants. This could be powdery mildew and it is fairly harmless to your plants unless severe. It thrives in warm, humid conditions, and there are some non-chemical practices to avoid this pesky powder such as spacing your plants appropriately, regularly pruning branches, and making sure your plants that love the sun see...
The Florida Teacher Institute (FTI) is a week-long program geared towards non-agricultural elementary, middle and high school teachers in Florida. This program is $450 and participants will visit UF/IFAS CALS locations, and find one standard/benchmark that they wish to teach. Applications are now open and can be found here:
As citrus greening has moved into our state and made some drastic impacts on our citrus industry, some farmers are looking to planting peaches, like our northern neighbor, Georgia. Peaches are a difficult crop to grow here in Florida as these trees require periods of time where the temperature stays at 45 degrees or below. Us Floridians know, that can be extremely unpredictable to get these exact temperatures, so this poses a challenge to ramp...
A survey from AgCareers.com showed that agricultural employers are working for employees with "problem solving skills" and "decision making skills". These were listed as the most important with "organization skills", "planning skills", and "teamwork" following. Some other skills that were examined for the success of the employee were sustainability, data science, and food science.
