Fruit
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This year has not been great for watermelon production in Florida. Some late frosts and unusual wet spells caused problems for producers and led to lower yields of good melons than usual. But the lower yields also led to higher prices, which added value to the watermelons that did make it through the season. You…
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As in Georgia, growers in Florida are exploring the potential for growing olives as a new specialty crop. There are already some groves planted and producing olives but this could expand in the future. WCJB has a video story about how production in the Southeast differs from production in California and other drier locations here.…
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Tropical Storm Gordon came onshore along the Gulf Coast on September 4. According to a report from the Vegetable and Specialty Crop News, the high winds and heavy rain caused a lot of damage to pecan trees and dropped many nuts right before harvest (similar to what happened to Georgia pecans in Irma last year).…
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Here is advice for grape growers in North Carolina from NCSU Extension. Short answer: if your grapes are near harvest, bring them in now! Note that the discussion is good but that the information is already somewhat dated with a western trend in the projected path which makes northern Georgia a more likely target for…
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The weather this year has not been good to lemon growers, resulting in near-record high prices this summer. The weather in California has been very hot and dry, leading to reductions in production of lemons and Valencia oranges. The weather in Mexico and Chile, two other growing areas, has also impacted lemon supplies. People are…
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The Packer has run a number of stories in the last few weeks on the impacts of the western heat wave on agriculture in California. As you can imagine, the drought and heat have had some negative impacts on citrus and avocados. But garlic production is one of the biggest in decades due to weather…
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When you have blueberries to protect, any method may be considered. Here is one I have not thought of–UGA’s blueberry specialist Scott NeSmith is using a dancing tube man more commonly seen at car dealerships to grab attention to scare away birds from his precious variety trials. Early in the season the bushes only have…