The All In For Citrus Podcast

All In For Citrus, Episode 56 April 2023

April was a busy month for citrus events with both the Citrus Growers’ Institute and the Florida Grower Citrus Show taking place. Michael Rogers, director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC), joined the All In For Citrus podcast to discuss the success of the two events.

All In For Citrus, Episode 55 March 2023

Growers have been deploying several new therapies aimed at improving the health of HLB-infected citrus in recent years. Plant growth regulators like gibberellic acid, 2,4-D and brassinosteroids have demonstrated the ability to improve tree health and help in fruit retention. More recently, direct delivery of oxytetracycline hydrochloride (OTC-HCl) via trunk injection has been approved for use in groves.

There is hope these therapies will move the needle against HLB, but sometimes it is hard to gauge tree-health improvement. Tripti Vashisth, an assistant professor of horticultural sciences with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), joins the March All In For Citrus podcast to give a sneak peek of a new technology she and her colleagues have developed to help growers assess tree health in their groves.

The tool, called Canopy Assist, is a smartphone app that will score citrus tree health based on images captured by the phone. She said tracking of tree health will become even more important as growers initiate trunk-injection programs in their groves.

Christa Court, UF/IFAS economist and director of the Economic Impact Analysis Program, joins the podcast to discuss the economic impact of Florida’s citrus industry. Despite the decades-old challenge of HLB, Court said the sector still contributed nearly $7 billion in economic output in the 2020-2021 season. The citrus industry also supported 32,542 full-time and part-time jobs. The stats show citrus still commands a significant spot in Florida farming.

The March podcast also features previews of upcoming events. The Florida Citrus Growers’ Institute and Florida Grower Citrus Show will be held in April. Hear more about these educational and networking events in the latest episode of All In For Citrus. The podcast is a joint partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

All In For Citrus, Episode 54 February 2023

With spring fast approaching, Michael Rogers, director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center, addresses important crop care items that should be on growers’ checklists. He shares his comments in the February episode of the All In For Citrus podcast.

All In For Citrus, Episode 53 January 2023

All In For Citrus, Episode 52 December 2022

The December All In For Citrus podcast includes a discussion with Michael Rogers, director of the Citrus Research and Education Center, about ongoing efforts growers are making to rehabilitate citrus groves after Hurricanes Ian and Nicole. 

Also featured in the December episode of the podcast is Tripti Vashisth, UF/IFAS associate professor of horticultural sciences. She provides insights on using the citrus flower bud advisory system.

Finally, Chris Oswalt, UF/IFAS citrus Extension agent, gives tips on getting groves ready for winter and potential freeze events.

All In For Citrus, Episode 51 November 2022

The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) recently received a large grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). Michael Rogers provides details of the $16.5 million grant during the November All In For Citrus podcast. Rogers is the director of the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred. 

The grant money is being spread between research projects ranging from gene editing to plant improvement breeding. Eight projects have been funded with the NIFA dollars. Rogers shares details on each project in this episode of the podcast. 

“Getting this infusion of money into the research program is really going to help us keep things going with our HLB research, which is really needed right now,” Rogers says. “This will help us build on the research done thus far and take it to the next level.” 

Ajia Paolillo, UF/IFAS citrus Extension agent, joins the podcast to give an update on the continuing fallout from Hurricane Ian. Her territory covers Hardee, DeSoto and Manatee counties, which were hard hit by the storm. She says fruit drop has continued well after Ian due to the stress the trees and root systems endured from winds and flooding. According to Paolillo, trees are beginning to flush, which is to be expected after a storm.

While there has been a good deal of research done on the impact of flooding in citrus groves, there is not a lot of literature on the wind effects that come with hurricanes. Christopher Vincent, UF/IFAS assistant professor of tree ecophysiology, has been tasked to work with growers to survey damage after the storm, particularly how winds damaged groves. He is recording damage and the delayed effect of fruit drop and other tree health issues.

Vincent encourages growers who have hurricane damage to participate in the informal survey. He said the process will not take much of their time and will benefit the industry. Vincent can be reached at civince@ufl.edu.

Don’t miss this episode of All In For Citrus. Listen to the November episode here. The podcast is a partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

All In For Citrus, Episode 50 October 2022

The October All In For Citrus podcast focuses on Hurricane Ian and its impact on the state’s signature crop. The storm tore a path across Florida’s citrus-growing regions, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage.

All In For Citrus, Episode 49 September 2022

As the 2022 citrus harvest gets underway, All In For Citrus podcast host Frank Giles catches up with the directors of three University of Florida Institute of Food Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) research and education centers. The directors discuss how the citrus crop is looking in their areas as well as key research projects underway at their facilities.

Michael Rogers, director of the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center, noted that he’s seeing a mixed bag when it comes to this year’s crop. While some groves clearly are suffering the effects of HLB, others look quite good.

“I have seen some groves that look quite remarkable, kind of reminiscent of where we were 15 or 20 years ago,” said Rogers. “These growers have been working on their nutrition programs in particular and have their soil pH right and are alleviating the stress on the trees. Over a period of years, they have really seen those groves come back. I was in a grove a couple weeks ago that looked very similar to what we would have seen before HLB. The big question remains, will those fruit hang on the tree? … That has been a big focus for us in research, trying to find ways to keep fruit on the trees through harvest.”

Rogers also addresses a shortage of imidacloprid, which is an important insecticide for citrus, especially young trees. Work is underway to make the product more available to growers.

Ron Cave, director of the Indian River Research and Education Center, discusses citrus research projects at that facility and its Millennium Block. He says there is a field day scheduled there on Oct. 19 that growers will want to attend.

The new director of the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center, Michael Burton, talks about his priorities for citrus research and provides some details on his background before coming to Florida.

Check out the September All In For Citrus podcast for more crop updates and a look at UF/IFAS citrus research. The podcast is a joint project of UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

All In For Citrus, Episode 48 August 2022

The August episode of the All In For Citrus podcast takes listeners on a deep dive into the use of plant growth regulators like gibberellic acid (GA) to help fight fruit drop. The episode features an in-depth conversation between Michael Rogers, director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center, and Tripti Vashisth, UF/IFAS associate professor of horticultural sciences. They cover subjects such as the number and timing of applications of GA to optimize tree response. While GA research has been discussed before, podcast host Frank Giles noted that this is the most comprehensive conversation he’s heard to date on the subject.

Vashisth has been on the forefront of research on the use of GA in Florida citrus. Over the years, this research has led her to refine application recommendations to improve GA performance. Studies have shown that multiple applications of GA produce the best results. UF/IFAS now recommends up to five applications. But what about growers who can’t afford five applications? Rogers and Vashisth discuss this challenge facing many growers and offer guidance on how much can be cut back without diminishing GA application return-on-investment.

The conversation covers GA applications for both Valencia and Hamlin oranges, which respond differently to the treatments. There also has been some anecdotal observations that GA applications made at night perform better than in the daytime. Vashisth offers guidance on this topic in the podcast.

In addition to GA, Rogers and Vashisth discuss new and ongoing research on the use of 2,4-D to improve fruit retention in HLB-affected oranges.

Growers interested in fighting fruit drop with plant growth regulators will not want to miss this episode of All In For Citrus. The podcast is a joint project of UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

All In For Citrus, Episode 47 July 2022

This month’s All In For Citrus podcast focuses on the upcoming Citrus & Specialty Crop Expo scheduled for Aug. 17–18 at the Lee Civic Center in North Fort Myers, Florida. Michael Rogers, director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center, said the university’s citrus research team worked hard to develop a program that growers can put to work in their groves today.