Tropical Storm Ernesto did little or no crop damage in Southwest Florida. Growers are breathing a sigh of relief. That’s according to Gene MacAvoy – the vegetable extension agent for the University of Florida. They were fearing a category one or even two hurricane. MacAvoy says a storm of that magnitude could have been devastating.

“A lot of our growers have been impacted the last few seasons by gene, fran, charley – the whole alphabet soup of hurricanes that has hit south florida and we’ve had some freeze events and in the past year and poor market prices so a lot of them are economically stretched really thin and could ill afford any kind of major catastrophe”

Growers in Southwest Florida began planting tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and squash about two weeks ago. MacAvoy says Ernesto’s gentle rain and light winds will do no harm to fields.


Growers in Southwest Florida are breathing a sigh of relief – Tropical Storm Ernesto did little if any damage to newly planted crops. In fact, Gene MacAvoy, vegetable extension agent for the University of Florida, says the storm may have benefited some growers.

“a lot of areas were still kind of on the dry side so we could – even if we get another inch or two of rain before the storm moves off most places will be able to accommodate that with no problem, just miss a day of work and get on with business.”

Growers have just started planting the fall crop of tomatoes, peppers, cucumber and squash. Southwest Florida is leading producer of these vegetables staples.

State Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson was in Southwest Florida Wednesday – attending the Citrus Expo and meeting with business leaders. He’s also meeting with members of the state’s legislative delegation to lobby for changes to federal Farm Bill.
Key provisions of the most recent Farm Bill, passed in 2002 are up for renewal next year. Commissioner Bronson says there are requests to extend the farm bill as it is with some minor changes. Speaking at luncheon with Chamber of Southwest Florida, Bronson said the agriculture community would be better served by making some significant changes to the legislation.

I think it still goes pretty heavy to the program crops. I would like to see, since specialty crops are now 55 percent of the total farm cash receipts, that speciality crops, not in subsidy payments but the ability to use money to help promote those subsidy crops around the world so we can sell them around the world would help tremendously.

Program crops are soybeans, wheat, cotton, corn, wheat and the like. 95 percent of crops grown in Florida are specialty crops – like oranges, strawberries and tomatoes.

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The Federal Farm Bill is is up for renewal next year – and Florida’s Agriculture Commissioner says he’d like to see it undergo some major revisions. Charles Bronson say right now the bill is skewed toward providing subsidies to farmers in the Midwest who grow wheat, soybeans, corn and the like. But Bronson says that formula doesn’t reflect the state of agriculture today.

We are actually making more money now off the specialty crops like oranges and tomatoes and strawberries and the things that we have here in Florida.

Commissioner Bronson also says he’d like to a provision in the farm bill that would provide quick relief to growers following natural disasters like hurricanes. He says right now the road to recovery relief is rife with bureaucratic hurdles.

The 15th Annual Citrus Expo gets underway today at the Lee Civic Center. Over the past decade and a half Southwest Florida’s Citrus industry has dealt with many challenges – but during this past year – they have mounted. That’s reflected in this year’s Expo Theme “Citrus Production in Transitional Times”. W-G-C-U’s Valerie Alker prepared this report.

Florida’s tomato industry finds itself in a quandary. After two straight years of heavy losses because of hurricanes, tomato growers now face problems of another kind: there aren’t enough workers to harvest the crop. The issue has quickly consumed the industry and it’s a major topic of discussion at this year’s state tomato conference in Naples. W-G-C-U’s Russell Lewis has the story.

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To fertilize or not to fertilize – that is the question. A group of experts will be on hand this evening in Ft. Myers to provide some answers. Some scientists say there’s a link between runoff from nitrogen and phosphorous in fertilizer and algae blooms. Others say there a link hasn’t been proven. Experts of both sides will speak at the Fertilizer Evaluation Forum sponsored by the University of Florida Cooperative Extension Service. Horticulture agent Steven Brown will moderate -

“what we’re trying to do is lay out some of the assumptions and some of the facts and let the county and city commissioners – give them some information to chew on and let them make the difficult decision.”

The City of Sanibel is considering restricting the use of some kinds of fertilizer – so is Sarasota County. Speakers include Dr. Larry Brand of the University of Miami and Dr. Cindy Heil of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The meeting begins at 6:00 at the Lee County Extension Service on Palm Beach Boulevard in Ft. Myers.

Florida citrus growers got some good news today (Wednesday). The state of Alabama has indicated it will continue to accept Florida-grown fruit despite a new federal quarantine of Florida citrus.
Last week the U-S Department of Agriculture said it would ban Florida from shipping fresh citrus to six citrus-producing states because of the threat of canker. Canker is a bacterial plant disease that is rampant in Florida groves. Citrus is worth an estimated nine-billion dollars to the state economy. Hendry County grower Mark Wheeler says he’s pleased Alabama will still accept Florida citrus. He says it’s not just where the fruit is sold, it’s how it’s distributed.

“If there’s large retailers in Atlanta who have distribution centers in Alabama, then that fruit can’t go to Alabama so they potentially have an issue buying it because of where are they going to store it until they can get it to the store. So it helps.”

Wheeler spoke on WGCU’s Gulf Coast Live. Ninety percent of Florida-grown oranges are used for juice so the U-S-D-A quarantine doesn’t apply to that part of the industry.

The U-S Department of Agriculture has barred fresh Florida citrus from being shipped to citrus producing states – over fears that canker and other diseases that have affected Florida fruit could spread.
Florida Citrus Mutual’s interim CEO Jay Clark says while the ban on shipping grapefruits and tangerines to California, Arizona, Texas, Alabama and Louisiana hurts…it’s not a deadly blow.

“If you look at the big picture of all the oranges that are produced in the state, the fresh fruit market only makes up about 10-percent. However when you talk about a drop in the bucket, if you’re one of those growers that make up that 10-percent it’s the whole bucket. So as far as the industry, most oranges are utilized through juice, but certainly the fresh fruit market is a very important market to us.”

Growers say they’ll try to persuade the USDA to remove Alabama and Louisiana from the quarantine list because citrus production in those states is nominal.

Hurricanes, Canker, Greening and Labor – those are the four major challenges facing Florida’s Citrus Industry. That’s according to officials with Florida Citrus Mutual – the state’s largest citrus growers organization. It’s the primary sponsor of this week’s Florida Citrus Industry Annual Conference in Estero. WGCU’s Valerie Alker has this report.

Florida is synonymous with oranges. The official state beverage is orange juice. The state flower: an orange blossom. And the official fruit is, of course, an orange. The citrus industry is worth an estimated nine-billion dollars to the Florida economy. Faced with new agricultural diseases and rising land values, the state’s signature industry is feeling the squeeze. W-G-C-U’s Russell Lewis has the story.