Daily Squeeze

Exotic Fruit Flies Found In Pinellas County

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

TALLAHASSEE – Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson says two male Oriental fruit flies have been found in a trap in a grapefruit tree in Safety Harbor, Pinellas County, Florida. The flies (Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Tephritidae) were found during routine surveillance activities earlier this month conducted by the department’s Division of Plant Industry.

“This is a disturbing find because of the extreme risks associated with exotic fruit fly infestations,” said Commissioner Bronson. “However, it is a clear indication that our fruit fly detection and monitoring program is working well, and fortunately, we have developed effective emergency response plans that in most cases allow us to quickly eradicate these dangerous pests.. The state, along with our federal partners, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, are pouring all available resources to address the fruit fly find in Pinellas County,” said Commissioner Bronson.

The Oriental fruit fly is considered one of the most serious of the world’s fruit fly pests due to its potential economic harm. It attacks more than 100 different fruits, vegetables and nuts, including citrus, apples, guava, mango, tomatoes and peppers. As with other fruit flies, it is not safe to rule out many plants as potential hosts. The fruit flies lay their eggs in the fruits and vegetables. In a few weeks, the larvae or maggots hatch and render the fruits or vegetables inedible.

The department has launched an intensified trapping program in an 81-square mile area surrounding the fruit fly find in Pinellas County until mid December. If any more flies are found the trapping will continue and an insecticide will be applied to telephone poles along with a substance that attracts the flies. As of this date, no additional fly has been found.

Twenty-four hours prior to the application of any pesticides or other treatment activities, public notification and treatment area maps will be published in local newspapers. Additional public outreach activities will be conducted as more information becomes available.

Agricultural officials are attempting to determine the source of the fruit that carried these flies into Florida. Report any information on the possible origin of these flies to the USDA’s anti-smuggling hotline at 1-800-877-3835.

State and federal agencies will work with local governments to keep the public involved and to provide updated and accurate information. More information can be found at the Department’s website at http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/pi/enpp/ento/exoticfruitflies.html including maps of the infested areas and detailed information on the Oriental fruit fly. You can also call the Department’s toll-free help number at 888-397-1517.

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2010 Citrus Reference Book Available Online

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

The 2010 Citrus Reference Book, published by the Florida Department of Citrus Economic and Market Research Department, is now available online at http://www.fdocgrower.com/d/economic_and_market_research/publications_and_presentations/reference_book-citrus/2010.pdf

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Putnam urges Senate action on food safety legislation

Monday, August 30th, 2010

BARTOW, Fla. – With a half-billion eggs having been recalled during the past week because of concerns over possible salmonella contamination, Congressman Adam Putnam (R-Fla.) today called on the U.S. Senate to move forward with food safety legislation.

“More than one year ago, the House of Representatives sent bipartisan food safety reform legislation (The Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009, H.R. 2749) to the Senate,” said Putnam, who was the author of several provisions in the bill. “Since then virtually nothing has happened.

“It’s often noted that our nation’s food supply is among the safest in the world. However, this most recent outbreak of salmonella, which may have sickened thousands of people, highlights the deficiencies in our food safety system that must be addressed.

Putnam supports efforts to modernize the federal government’s approach to food safety, making the Food and Drug Administration which handles the bulk of food inspections, more proactive, stopping food-borne contamination before it reaches consumers. In addition he supports making the agency more responsive when cases do emerge, and holding imported food to the same standards as that produced in America.

“Much of the current system was devised during the Teddy Roosevelt Administration,” said Putnam. “And every year seems to bring a new food safety concern: one year its pistachio nuts or peanut butter, and next its bagged spinach or Mexican jalapeno peppers. This year it’s eggs. The system needs to be modernized, streamlined and made more effective. The Senate has legislation before it, and it needs to take action now.”

Since 2001, Putnam has represented Florida’s 12th Congressional District, which includes most of Polk County and portions of Hillsborough and Osceola counties.

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OJ Retail Revenues Down; Prices Up

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

For the 4-week period ending 08/07/10, OJ retail revenues are down by 5.1%. Gallon sales and average prices are down 8.0% and up 3.2% respectively; contributing to the decline in retail revenue. Season-to-date revenues are off 5.1% with a 2.3% decrease in volume. Wal-Mart share of total gallon sales is 20.7% for this 4-week period.

NFC prices are at $6.64 per gallon, up 1.5% from last year. Gallon volume is down 3.1% from last year. NFC prices are up $0.18 and up $0.07 per gallon from the same period last year for $2MM grocery and Wal-Mart, respectively.

RECON prices are at $4.51 per gallon, a 4.5% increase from last year. RECON volume is down 11.9% from last year and RECON gallon sales continue to be below NFC movement. The price gap between NFC and RECON remains wide. Today the gap is $2.13 per gallon.

Four-week gallon sales in $2MM grocery are down 8.7% with a price increase of 3.5%. Gallon sales in Wal-Mart are down 7.0%. NFC prices were up 3.0% in Wal-Mart during this same time period. NFC prices in Wal-Mart are $0.42 lower than those found in $2MM grocery; while RECON prices are $0.11 higher than those found in $2MM grocery. Four-week revenues in Wal-mart are down 5.2% and season-to-date revenues are down 4.1% from last year.

Four-week gallon sales of OJ drinks are down 8.6% with a price increase of 2.6% from last year, revenues are down 6.3%. OJ drinks with over 39.9% OJ contents increased 13.0% with a price decrease of 3.6% from last year; revenues are up by 9.0%. OJ drinks with less than 40% OJ contents decreased 16.3% with a price increase of 3.6% and revenues decreasing by 13.3%.
Four-week average promo prices for OJ are up 4.1%; temporary price reduction activities are down 1.0%; feature ads with displays are flat; displays without feature ads are down 10.0%; feature ads without displays are down 1.1%.

For more information go to www.fdocgrower.com.

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Bayer Agrees to Terminate All Uses of Aldicarb

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Bayer CropScience, the manufacturer, have reached an agreement to end use of the pesticide aldicarb in the United States. A new risk assessment conducted by EPA based on recently submitted toxicity data indicates that aldicarb, an N-methyl carbamate insecticide, no longer meets the agency’s rigorous food safety standards and may pose unacceptable dietary risks, especially to infants and young children.

To address the most significant risks, Bayer has agreed first to end aldicarb use on citrus and potatoes and will adopt risk mitigation measures for other uses to protect groundwater resources. New measures to protect shallow drinking water wells in vulnerable areas of the southeastern U.S. coastal plain and lower application rates will be immediately added to product labels for use on cotton, soybeans, and peanuts.

The company will voluntarily phase out production of aldicarb by December 31, 2014. All remaining aldicarb uses will end no later than August 2018. Additionally, EPA plans to revoke the tolerances (legal pesticide residues allowed in food) associated with these commodities. EPA did this to ensure we have the safest food supply possible.

Based upon current toxicological studies, aldicarb at levels higher than those typically found in food has the potential to cause various effects such as sweating, nausea, dizziness and blurred vision, abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Aldicarb is registered for use as a systemic insecticide and nematicide on agricultural crops, and is formulated and marketed solely as a granular pesticide under the trade name Temik. During the phase-out, the pesticide will continue to be registered for use on cotton, dry beans, peanuts, soybeans, sugar beets, and sweet potatoes. Aldicarb products are not intended for sale to homeowners or for use in residential settings. A restricted use pesticide, aldicarb may be applied only by trained, certified pesticide applicators.

The memorandum of agreement and the agency’s updated dietary risk assessment and supporting materials will be available in the aldicarb reregistration docket, EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0163, and in the aldicarb Special Review docket, EPA-HQ-OPP-2006-0197, at regulations.gov.

The U.S. has a safe and abundant food supply, and children and others should continue to eat a variety of foods, as recommended by the federal government and nutritional experts.

More information: http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/REDs/factsheets/aldicarb_fs.html

To view the dockets: http://www.regulations.gov

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Mark Rieger named College of Agricultural and Life Sciences interim dean

Friday, August 13th, 2010

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Mark Rieger, associate dean in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, has been named interim dean effective Sept. 4, Jack Payne, senior vice president for agriculture and natural resources, announced Thursday.

This appointment follows the resignation of Dean Kirby Barrick, who is returning to full-time faculty duties at UF after 21 years as an administrator and five years as CALS dean.

“CALS is one of the very best colleges of its kind in the country and Dr. Barrick has played an important role in that,” Payne said. “We welcome him as a full-time professor and at the same time, welcome Dr. Rieger as interim dean and know he’ll keep the college among the nation’s best.”

Rieger, who holds a doctoral degree in horticultural science from UF, has been an associate dean since 2006. He’s been in charge of the college’s graduate programs, distance education, statewide degree completion programs, the honors program and the international study-abroad program. He came to UF from the University of Georgia, where his research and teaching focused on environmental physiology of horticultural crops.

“I’m just grateful for this wonderful opportunity to be interim dean during this time and excited that Dr. Payne has put his trust in me,” Rieger said. “My goal as interim dean is to continue the enrollment growth and quality improvements we have experienced in the last few years, and make a great college even better.”

The search for a permanent replacement is expected to take between nine months and a year and a search committee will be named soon, Payne said. Mark McLellan, research dean for UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, will lead the search committee.

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Excitement Builds For Sold-Out Citrus Expo

Monday, August 9th, 2010

For Immediate Release: August 9, 2010
Contact: Gary Cooper, Southeast AgNet, 352-671-1909

With a sold-out trade show and hundreds of attendees already preregistered, the 19th annual Citrus Expo is stacking up to what could be one of the largest events in the show’s history. More than 150 exhibitors are scheduled to show off their goods on Aug. 18-19 at the World’s Premier Citrus Expo at the Lee Civic Center in Fort Myers.

Attendance is free both days to bona fide grove owners and managers, citrus production managers, professional crop advisers, association representatives, board members and the citrus research community. For easiest entry and to help the Citrus Expo team develop the best head count for event planning, those expecting to attend either or both days of Citrus Expo are encouraged to preregister at www.CitrusExpo.net or by calling 352-671-1909. Advance-registration brochures have been distributed industry-wide, and registration will be available at the door as well.

Attendees can expect some exciting elements in the lineup of events this year, including the following:

• The day-and-a-half seminar program, “Research to Real Life: Applying the Latest Citrus Science,” co-sponsored by Bayer CropScience, the Citrus Research and Development Foundation and Southeast AgNet, will offer 8.5 CEUs, 6 CCA credits and practical knowledge for growers.

• Wednesday evening’s newly introduced Casino Night fundraiser for Florida FFA will be a good opportunity to support a great cause and enjoy an entertaining evening of game play, prize drawings, dessert, drinks and camaraderie. Reserve tickets and get details at www.CitrusExpo.net.

• Florida Science Source books for citrus pros will be available for purchase in the trade show.

• The annual Everglades Farm Equipment gun safe drawing for pre-registered growers will take place during Wednesday’s lunch in the trade show.

• Back by popular demand is the midday Bayer CropScience Ice Cream Social both days.

• A new “Stay for Steak” grand finale lunch on Thursday will feature a valuable Traeger wood pellet grill as the grand prize, in addition to other grills and related prizes.

Excitement, education, networking, good friends and business value … find it all at Citrus Expo 2010!

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Statement from Southern Gardens on Land Purchase

Friday, August 6th, 2010

August 4, 2010

The on-going transaction, whereby the South Florida Water Management District has been negotiating a land sale with U.S. Sugar for the purpose of Everglades restoration, is approaching a conclusion. The SFWMD Board of Directors today received revised contracts for the purchase of 27,000 acres of US Sugar and Southern Gardens Citrus land; they are scheduled to vote on August 11th or 12th with closing scheduled by October 11, 2010.

From the Southern Gardens perspective, this deal affects only the land associated with citrus production from the Southern Grove unit. This transaction today does not affect the grove operations at the Devil’s Garden or the Dunwody/Alcoma units. Under the terms of the revised agreement, Southern Gardens will continue to lease and operate the Southern Grove unit until such time that the SFWMD provides a one (1) year notice for initiation of restoration project construction. In the meantime, Southern Gardens will continue to grow and harvest oranges on this property (as well as the Devil’s Garden and Dunwody/Alcoma units which we retain).

Upon completion of this initial acquisition, should the economy and tax revenues improve, the SFWMD retains the option in the future to purchase additional land from U.S. Sugar/Southern Gardens. As we have stated previously and want to convey again, the Southern Gardens Citrus Processing facility is not affected as a result of this initial land purchase agreement or as a result of this transaction at any time in the future. We have and will continue to produce and ship high quality NFC, concentrated orange juice and by-products. Southern Gardens Citrus Processing remains the only production facility in close proximity to the high volume of citrus trees and fruit in this region.

During the lengthy period since the initial proposed transaction with SFWMD was announced, Southern Gardens has continued to operate its entire citrus business with an eye to the future. Specific areas of focus to date and going forward are as follows:

1. Southern Gardens is a leader in researching, educating and dealing with the current citrus disease; HLB/greening. Our company has been invested significant funds in several internal disease research projects. These projects have progressed to the point that citrus trees that have proven in the lab to be resistant to canker and greening were planted by us in a USDA approved site for field testing. These projects plus several others continue and we believe that in the near future, Southern Gardens will find a viable solution to the greening and canker disease.

2. Our nursery operation in northern Florida is producing high quality citrus trees for supply to our own groves as well as on a commercial basis to growers. We have been resetting trees in our groves for the last two (2) years and will continue to do so in the future. We are in the process of doubling our budwood supply at the nursery in advance of a further expansion to the facility. These investments will position us as a supplier of disease-free trees, with the end result of being able to supply juice to our customers long into the future.

3. At our processing facility, we are working on the expansion plans that will double our production capacity for frozen pulp cells. We are evaluating alternative transportation modes for juices and by-products as well as alternative energy sources to run the plant in order to reduce our carbon footprint.

4. With the detection of the black spot disease in Florida at the end of the 2009/2010 harvest, USSC/SGC is setting up our PCR lab to provide analytical capabilities for the Florida citrus industry on this disease for this next harvest year. Consistent with the testing for HLB/greening, these tests will be done at no charge to the grower.

Contrary to the false rumors and speculation involving Southern Gardens Citrus Processing over the last three years, our business remains a vibrant part of this industry and as illustrated above, is positioned well for the future.

If there are any questions or comments regarding any aspect of the Southern Gardens Citrus business, please feel free to contact us.

Sincerely,

Rick Kress
President
Southern Gardens Citrus

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The Weather Channel offers new Agricultural Application for farming enthusiasts

Friday, July 30th, 2010

Managing your crops isn’t easy, but now there is a new application on Weather.com to help. Weather.com just launched its new website in an effort to help users navigate the site more efficiently.

Weather.com now features customizable local weather applications, including an Agriculture Application where farmers can get their daily forecast with precipitation, and access soil moisture conditions, precipitation reports and forecasts, wind speed and direction, as well as other beneficial information, such as:

· Almanac—shows a history of average highs/lows and historical records for temperature and precipitation levels in local areas
· Growing degree days calculator—measures the rate at which crops grow during specific dates and temperatures throughout the year
· Seasonal outlooks—offer regional season precipitation and temperature levels around the U.S.
· Agricultural news across the nation

More information on the Weather.com’s new Agricultural Application is accessible at http://www.weather.com/outlook/agriculture/forecast/.

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RMA EXPANDS PASTURE, RANGELAND, FORAGE INSURANCE AVAILABILITY FOR 2011 CROP YEAR TO INCLUDE FLORIDA

Thursday, July 29th, 2010

WASHINGTON, Jun 30, 2010 – RMA Administrator William J. Murphy has announced expansion of the Pasture, Rangeland, and Forage (PRF) plan of insurance along with enhancements to its Vegetation Index program for the 2011 crop year. RMA is able to expand and enhance this program because of savings recently generated by renegotiation of the Standard Reinsurance Agreement.

“We’re pleased to extend availability of the PRF plan of insurance to more producers across the country,” Murphy said. “Adding to our coverage areas and making other enhancements to the Vegetation Index products will provide additional support for producers facing production risks during 2011 and beyond.”

Under the Rainfall Index (RI)-PRF plan of insurance, RMA will expand coverage for the 2011 crop year to specific counties in Colorado, and all counties in the states of California, Florida, Georgia, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Texas, bringing the total number of States where the program is available to 16.

The Vegetation Index (VI)-PRF will be expanded to the balance of counties in Idaho, Oregon, and South Dakota, and all counties in the states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah for 2011, bringing the State total where VI-PRF is available to 9.

RMA has also received requests for further expansion of PRF in Nevada, Arkansas, and Minnesota. RMA will take the expansion request for the 2012 crop year to the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation Board of Directors later this year for their consideration and potential approval.

For specific coverage areas under both the RI and VI plans, please see the 2011 availability map.

Other enhancements to the VI-PRF and VI Apiculture plans of insurance include removing the temperature constraint component from the United States Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science (USGS EROS) data set. RMA determined the temperature constraint added complexity to the index with minimal benefits. To compensate for removal of the temperature constraint, RMA is adding a total loss factor, representing the level of loss at which the maximum indemnity amount (a 100-percent payment) is payable.

PRF is an area risk policy covering livestock grazing and forage land, based on a Rainfall Index or a Vegetation Index. The Rainfall Index, using National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center data, bases insurance indemnities on the deviation from normal precipitation within the area for a specific time period selected by the producer. The Vegetation Index uses the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data from USGS EROS. The NDVI is an alternative measure of vegetation greenness and correlates to vegetation conditions and productive capacity. Plants that are not stressed generally have a higher NDVI value. Losses calculated using the Vegetation Index are also indemnified based on the deviation from normal.

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