Agriculture

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.

In a top priority of Senate President Ben Albritton, senators this past week unanimously passed a more than $200 million plan to bolster health care, education, transportation and economic development in rural areas.Albritton, a Wauchula Republican who owns a citrus grove, said the bill (SB 110) would provide an array of programs that local governments could use “like a buffet” for their communities. He said the money isn’t “hand out” but a “hand up” to provide a chance for residents to “build a career and build a family” in communities where they were raised.

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.

Officials said that some farmers may have avoided additional devastating losses from Helene, but only because they had not yet replanted after Debby hit just eight weeks before.

Advocates of the technology say it will ease the sector’s labor shortage, help farmers manage rising costs, and provide workers with respite from extreme weather — issues that are closely related to climate change.

The amount of land in Florida dedicated to growing citrus continues to shrink.Reports issued last week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Florida had 17 percent fewer acres used for growing oranges, grapefruit and other citrus than in 2023, though the harvest during the 2023-2024 growing season was valued 6 percent higher than the previous season.

The Gulf Coast Citrus Growers Association, which represented growers in Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry and Lee counties, announced it was closing down last month. It’s another sign of the decline of Florida’s citrus industry, which once produced about 80% of the nation’s citrus, but right now produces less than 17%. For context, in 2003–2004, the state's growers had a record crop of more than 240 million 90-pound boxes of oranges. Based on the latest forecast, they'll produce about 18 million boxes this season. We discuss what the Gulf Coast Citrus Growers Association was, and to try and look into the future of Florida’s citrus industry.

Military veterans can learn agricultural skills through a program at UF. WGCU’s Cary Barbor has more.

The bus was transporting 53 farmworkers shortly after 6:30 a.m. when it collided with a pickup truck in Marion County, about 80 miles north of Orlando, the Florida Highway Patrol said.Then driver of the pickup was later arrested on driving under the influence-manslaughter charges.

Florida has expanded rules blocking importation of some cattle because of the spread of a type of avian influenza in dairy herds in other states. Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson on Monday issued an emergency rule that requires most dairy cattle being imported into Florida to meet federal testing and movement requirements for Bovine Associated Influenza A Syndrome.