To prevent the New World Screwworm from infesting Florida, the state is blocking rescue dogs and cats coming from Texas and New Mexico.

Increased New World Screwworm exposures in Texas and New Mexico, the Florida department of Agriculture will strengthen current efforts to prevent the reintroduction of the destructive pest into the state by implementing a new emergency rule. Three cases of the New World screwworm were confirmed earlier this week, including one outside Texas, demonstrating the difficulty of stopping a pest that could potentially devastate the nation’s cattle industry.

Florida enacted emergency rules Friday to prevent the New World screwworm from making its way to the Sunshine State. The state created protocols to protect Florida’s cattle herds from the parasitic fly after it was found in Texas earlier this week.

After a winter that hit harder than anyone expected, freezing blossoms and fruit and bruising hopes, Florida blueberry growers are working to recover from this chilly season.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced a USDA disaster declaration Wednesday that supports Florida's agricultural producers impacted by historic freezes. The declaration follows a bipartisan push by all members of Florida’s congressional delegation urging USDA to provide relief for farmers and producers devastated by the late January, early February freeze.

With farmers caught shorthanded and with crops not ready for harvesting, a pair of winter storms at the beginning and end of January potentially inflicted more than $3.17 billion in losses to the state’s agricultural industry.

Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson’s wide-ranging “farm bill” is now ready for the Senate floor, without controversial language to expand the ability of farmers to pursue legal damages over the “disparagement” of agricultural products. The Rules Committee on Tuesday backed the proposal (SB 290) after several changes were made, particularly the removal of a section on the “agricultural disparagement” law.

As Florida’s citrus greening continues to get beaten down, is something better on the horizon? Vanilla is the second most expensive spice in the world and Florida is looking to cash in on the crop.

Southwest Florida is a great place to produce food and other ag products — but only if growers are able to remain profitable. In order to assess what local growers and producers think about the future of Southwest Florida’s agriculture industry, Florida Gulf Coast University’s Center for Agribusiness recently wrapped up a large study titled “Agribusiness in Southwest Florida: The Next 25 years.” A team of researchers conducted in-depth interviews with representatives from 30 local farm operations and compiled what they found in the new report. We talk with the study’s three co-authors to get an overview of what came out of those conversations.