CUPS Grown Grapefruit Higher Yield Researchers are seeing positive results from an experiment to shield Florida grapefruit under a protective screen knows as “CUPS”. The system, “Citrus Under Protective Screens”, has been used by commercial growers and UF/IFAS scientists to prevent the deadly citrus greening caused by the dangers Asian citrus psyllid. In Florida, grapefruit [...]
Zucchini Festival Celebrates 35 Years The 35th annual Windsor Zucchini Festival will take place Saturday, May 11 at the Windsor Volunteer Fire Station. Festivities begin at 9:00 a.m. and go on until 4:00 p.m. The festival celebrates the zucchini harvest and agriculture in the area. There is an arts and craft show, plant sale, plant [...]
More Questions than Answers with Hemp As Farm Bureaus around the country pled for a Farm Bill last year, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts approached Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on the floor. “What can we do to get this Farm Bill done on time, Mitch?” “Pat, we’re not passing a bill without legalized hemp.” [...]
Florida Farm Bureau Sets 2019 Legislative Agenda In February, Florida Farm Bureau’s State Board of Directors approved its legislative agenda for the upcoming legislative session. With 2019 being a transition year–the state welcomes a new Governor, Cabinet, House Speaker and Senate President–Florida Farm Bureau is assessing each chambers’ priorities and how they will work with [...]
Mandatory Dicamba Training Addresses 2019 Regulatory Changes On March 20, from 9 – 11 a.m. CST (10-12 EST), a mandatory Dicamba Stewardship Training session will web broadcast to participating Extension Offices across Florida. New for 2019, all applicators using dicamba over-the-top in herbicide-tolerant crops (cotton and soybean) will be required to have a restricted use [...]
Advocating at the Capitol Every year, our members have the opportunity to travel to the state Capitol to tell their stories directly to their elected officials. Stories about the many challenges facing the farming community or stories about how they personally invest in the protection and improvement of natural resources. Members also have the ability [...]
Bee Technology Pilots in Florida Bee Vectoring Technologies, International Inc., (BVT) has developed bee vectoring technology designed to use bees to naturally deliver plant health products directly to targeted areas of a plant. The primary target crops for the BVT system are strawberries and blueberries. The system is being piloted to a select group of [...]
Biosolids Committee Makes Recommendations to Protect Water Resources Florida Farm Bureau represented agriculture in a seven-member Biosolids Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) formed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in August 2018. The TAC also included stakeholders representing environmental groups, large and small utilities, waste haulers, university researchers and consultants. The TAC convened five times [...]
Floridians Urged to Support New Clean Water Rule Charles Shinn, Director of Government & Community Affairs The newly revised Waters of the U.S. (Clean Water) Rule is something that Florida agriculture needs to support actively with public comment. Be a voice is stopping the regulations. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently rolled out an updated [...]
Committees Set as Legislature Prepares for Start of 2019 Legislative Session Committee assignments in the Florida House of Representatives were just announced last month, as lawmakers continue to make early preparations for the 2019 legislative session which is scheduled to begin Tuesday, March 5. The House Agriculture and Natural Resources Subcommittee will be led by [...]
