Fruit
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This Day in Weather History posted an interesting story today on Facebook on the terrible freeze of February 2-9, 1835. The cold was so intense that it froze the St. Johns River for “several rods from the shore” and killed off entire groves of citrus trees. You can read more about it at https://www.weather.gov/media/tbw/paig/PresAmFreeze1835.pdf. A list of…
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Because of this year’s warm weather throughout the winter months, the accumulated chill hours that we have seen this year are even lower than last year’s values, and is only about 50% of what we usually expect by this time of year. If we use previous years of weather data to project the range of…
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Vegetable and Specialty Crop News ran an interesting story today about attempts to improve the knowledge and marketability of Florida peaches. For example, did you know that Florida peaches are available in mid-March through early May but most consumers buy their peaches in June, July and August when they are already out of season? You…
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The New York Times posted an interesting story this week about the Jackson Family Wines farms and how producers there are dealing with drier and warmer conditions in a variety of novel ways. Their methods include using owls and falcons to scare away pests drawn by warmer weather, drones to assess crop health, and reservoirs…
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The Packer reported this week that Florida strawberries are doing much better than a year ago, when extremely high temperatures hurt production levels. This year, while still warm, is closer to normal values, and the strawberries are producing much better. Market prices are still being hurt by competition from Mexico and California, however, so farmers…
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Vegetable Growers News reported this week that early reports of Florida strawberry production this year look favorable. Wish Farms, a national produce grower and supplier, noted that the cooler temperatures during the planting season has conditioned the strawberry plants to produce more consistent blooms than they experienced last year. You can read more about it…
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I read a story this morning in Growing Georgia reminding producers that the deadline for purchasing crop insurance for fruit is coming on November 20. I thought I would take a minute to discuss what the current weak La Niña means for spring frost. In general, neither El Niño nor La Niña are particularly indicative…