The effort to get more money for tomato pickers in Immokalee may have hit a wall. Most of Florida’s tomato growers say they won’t participate in the deal between a group of farm workers and fast food giants McDonalds and Taco Bell to pay pickers an extra penny per pound of tomatoes picked. WGCU’s Luis Hernandez reports.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is out with this year's orange crop forecast. Growers say the numbers look good. WGCU's Valerie Alker reports.

Florida Growers who sell fresh citrus are counting on changes in federal shipping rules to give the industry a boost. WGCU’s Valerie Alker reports.

A group of Lake Worth attorneys who fight for the rights of migrant workers have won a lawsuit accusing a Florida tomato farm of forcing hundreds of people to live in deplorable conditions. Mary Kate Leming has more.

Hundreds of people turned out in Fort Myers Wednesday for the first day of the 16th annual Citrus Expo. It's the largest trade show of its kind in the state. WGCU's Valerie Alker reports.

Florida is the nation's largest producer of watermelons. Now growers have a new variety to cultivate - one with all the health benefits, but only half the sugar. WGCU's Valerie Alker has more.

Congress is expected to pass a new farm bill this week. That’s good news for Florida growers. The 2007 Farm Bill earmarks substantially more money for specialty crops such as fruits and vegetables. WGCU’s Valerie Alker has more.

Agriculture is an important part of Southwest Florida's environment and economy, and will continue to play a role as the region grows and develops. That's the consensus of a study of the region's agricultural viability done by economists at Florida Gulf Coast University. WGCU's Valerie Alker reports.

Southwest Florida citrus pickers are in the fields this week, collecting the first fruit of the season. This region’s crop is worth a billion dollars to the local economy and growers are worried they won’t be able to find enough help this year. It comes after authorities have arrested some illegal immigrants and scared away others. Ron Hamel of the LaBelle-based Gulf Citrus Growers Association says so far there have been no labor shortages. But that might not be the case in a few months.

“We’re still apprehensive going in to see as we start picking up volume if some of our harvesting crews that are not yet in our region will be back. So we’re keeping our fingers crossed and we’re optimistic that as we move forward into the season we’ll be able to have enough harvesting help.”

Orange juice prices are up more than eight-percent this year and consumer demand has dropped. If Florida citrus remains on the trees because of a labor shortage, the cost will go even higher. Florida is second only to Brazil in global orange juice production.

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The first part of Southwest Florida’s citrus crop is being picked this week. It comes as concern mounts over whether there are enough workers this year to collect all the fruit on the trees. Citrus is worth an estimated billion dollars to the Southwest Florida economy. Two years of devastating hurricanes spread crop diseases and knocked healthy fruit to the ground. And now concerns over illegal immigration are scaring some workers away this year, further hobbling the industry. Ron Hamel of the LaBelle-based Gulf Citrus Growers Association says it’s a good sign there haven’t been labor shortages yet early in the season -- but he worries what will happen in the next few months.

“We’re certainly going to need enough help to get that crop in and we’re hoping that we’ll be able to achieve that in an orderly fashion.”

Hamel says he’s keeping his fingers crossed that his Southwest Florida citrus growers will have enough help to harvest their crop rather than let it wither on the tree.

Florida tomato growers are meeting this week in Naples for their annual conference. One of their big concerns is a shortage of workers. In the wintertime, almost every tomato eaten in the United States is grown in Florida. At the height of harvest, the industry employs about 50-thousand workers. But since a crackdown on illegal immigrants, growers are concerned they won’t find enough help to pick their multi-million dollar crops. Reggie Brown is executive vice president of the industry-trade group ‘Tomato Exchange’.

“During that period of harvest, we need large numbers of workers to accomplish that task. There is concern we may or may not have sufficient labor available to accomplish that task. And if we don’t, it will be a disastrous experience for the industry.”

More Florida-based growers have begun to use the federal guest worker program. In exchange for guaranteed help, it costs growers more money because they must provide housing and transportation to their workers in this country legally. The tomato industry is worth an estimated one-billion dollars to the Florida economy.