Michael Rogers, director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center, reminds growers that spring is a critical time of year to manage the fruit set occurring in groves for next season’s crop. He emphasizes the importance of proper irrigation and fertigation during mid-May as drought conditions persist, noting that grower decisions now will determine fruit set and yields for the rest of the year.

Without adequate fertilizer applications during this window, fruit will not size up properly, and fruit retention will be reduced. Frequent irrigation during the dry period is critical to help trees meet the demands of the fruit set period and avoid stress.

Sandra Guzmán, UF/IFAS assistant professor of agricultural and biological engineering, offers a timely discussion on a software platform she and her team have developed called IrrigMonitor. The system helps growers determine optimal watering times to avoid both over-irrigation and under-irrigation during drought or rainy periods. The software works with tools like soil moisture sensors and weather stations that growers already have on their farms.

Guzmán said IrrigMonitor is a decision support platform designed to help growers determine whether trees need water based on combined data from soil moisture, weather forecasts and irrigation schedules. She describes the tool as a "weather app for irrigation" that provides real-time guidance for irrigation decisions.

For growers interested in learning more about IrrigMonitor, Guzmán can be contacted at sandra.guzmangut@ufl.edu.

Also in the May podcast, Fernando Alferez, UF/IFAS associate professor of citrus horticulture, shares new data from his research on the use of individual protective covers (IPCs) and brassinosteroids to protect and rejuvenate trees impacted by HLB. He also discusses new research data on citrus canker management.

The podcast is a partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

Michael Rogers, director of the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC), says the Institute is among the big three citrus events each year. The others are the Florida Citrus Show held in March and the Citrus & Specialty Crop Expo scheduled for Aug. 12–13 in Fort Myers.

The morning session of the Institute included timely presentations from UF/IFAS citrus researchers. After lunch, a meet-and-greet format gave growers the opportunity to converse with scientists one-on-one.

Rogers discusses a presentation by Ute Albrecht, UF/IFAS associate professor of plant physiology, which laid out data from her ongoing research on trunk-injection of oxytetracycline. Her trials over three years show steady improvement in yields, and fruit-quality improvements are beginning to show up.

Rogers also emphasizes the importance of the presentation given by Matt Smith, UF/IFAS Extension commercial crop production and food systems agent for Lake and Orange counties. His talk outlined new pesticide regulations related to the Endangered Species Act. Growers need to understand what these rules mean and how they impact herbicides and insecticides. Fungicide regulations are coming soon.

The podcast also includes an interview with Smith on the scene at the Institute. He discusses pesticide use limitation areas (PULAs) in detail. PULAs are part of the new rules for pesticide application. Smith says this is no longer a regulation coming soon; it is a regulation that is in place.

Also included in the podcast are interviews with UF/IFAS entomologist Lukasz Stelinski and UF/IFAS weed scientist Ramdas Kanissery, conducted at the Institute.

Michael Rogers, director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC), discusses the Florida Citrus Growers’ Institute scheduled for April 14 at South Florida State College in Avon Park. A presentation that will be given by Matt Smith, UF/IFAS Extension commercial crop production and food systems agent for Lake and Orange counties, will focus on new pesticide regulations related to the Endangered Species Act.

These regulations will apply to any pesticide applications, especially those in pesticide use limitation areas (PULAs). Rogers says this is a big change that comes with a lot of information, so Smith’s presentation is one growers and applicators will not want to miss.

Rogers also previews a workshop being held at CREC on May 19. It will take a deeper dive into these new regulations and PULAs. Both events will be available for pre-registration at the CREC website.

Rogers also takes a moment to congratulate CREC citrus breeders Fred Gmitter and Jude Grosser, who will be honored with a special CREC Professorship Award in April. The award has only been given to a handful of CREC scientists in the center’s more than 100-year history.

Gmitter and Grosser discuss the award and some of their more recent rootstock and variety selections. They say they are proud to be honored together, because they’ve worked as a team for many years at CREC.

After the freeze this year, citrus trees were rebounding and flushing nicely in March. Tripti Vashisth, CREC assistant director, joins the podcast to discuss demands this is putting on trees in terms of irrigation and fertilization needs. Irrigation is especially important as many areas in Florida continue to be suffering from significant drought.

The All In For Citrus podcast is a partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

Michael Rogers, director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center, notes that it will take some time for the full scale of damage to be sorted out. He adds the intensity of damage varied from location to location, but early reports are that some groves took on significant damage.

Matt Smith, UF/IFAS Extension commercial crop production and food systems agent for Lake and Orange counties, shares what he is observing in terms of damage. He noted there is significant damage in the counties he serves.

Smith also talks about the potential disaster relief programs that might be forthcoming and how growers can prepare to be in a good position to receive funds. A key element of this is documenting all damage that has occurred on the farm. That damage could include lost fruit, injured or dead trees, or broken equipment like irrigation pipes. Take many photos to document the damage, Smith advises.

While not directly related to the freeze, Smith also discusses the recently announced Assistance for Specialty Crop Farmers Program. This U.S. Department of Agriculture bridge payment program is making a total of $1 billion available to specialty crop growers. The deadline to apply is March 13.

Muhammad Shahid, UF/IFAS assistant professor at the North Florida Research and Education Center, details agronomic measures growers can take to rehabilitate freeze-damaged trees. He says a key is patience to give trees time to adjust before taking actions like fertilization and pruning.

The podcast is a partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

The event provided a day full of educational presentations covering a wide range of topics. Rogers noted several of the talks explained how HLB impacts citrus trees internally and how certain therapies help counteract those effects.

Ute Albrecht, UF/IFAS associate professor of plant physiology, also joined the podcast to discuss her research on the use of oxytetracycline (OTC). Albrecht reported the yield results from a fairly large trial in a commercial Hamlin grove that has had three applications of OTC. The trial results reinforce the thinking that OTC has a cumulative effect over the course of several years as root systems get reestablished and tree health returns. The third-year yield data show significant yield increases in OTC-treated trees compared to controls.

Davie Kadyampakeni, UF/IFAS associate professor of citrus water and nutrient management, summarized the take-home messages from his presentation at the workshop, which focused on optimizing citrus nutrition. A key point was to ensure nutrition is always available to citrus trees and in amounts that the trees can actually take up due to reduced root systems from HLB. This is even true with slow-release fertilizers. He recommended split applications throughout the year to ensure there is some overlap as one dose of slow-release fertilizer plays out.

Kadyampakeni also gave a brief update on the status of new recommendations from UF/IFAS for citrus nutrition. He said there has been a slight delay in releasing the update but expects it will be coming soon.

Oswalt is retiring from his post as a citrus Extension agent, which he’s held for nearly 30 years. He served Polk and Hillsborough counties.

“I quickly got connected with Chris when I first came to CREC in 2004,” Rogers said. “He was a big help to me, especially earlier in my career. He has helped get many new faculty pointed in the right direction when they come on board. He is down to earth and grounded in reality, and growers trust him because of that. We wish him well in retirement.”

Rogers also took the occasion to remind growers to engage with the citrus agents in Florida because they can be a valuable resource. Find your citrus agent here.

“If you’ve not had an agent out to your operation, invite them to come out,” Rogers said. “Get them involved and visiting you in the field. It will help the agents develop their programs and serve you better.”

One of the citrus agents, Edwin Gutierrez, also joins the podcast to discuss ways to prepare groves for winter and potential freeze events. He covers DeSoto, Hardee and Manatee counties.

Some of his key points include making sure trees are as healthy as possible going into winter because a healthy tree will withstand a freeze better. He also advises growers to check their irrigation systems regularly to ensure they are operating properly. Irrigation is the main line of defense to protect trees during a freeze.

Muhammad Shahid, UF/IFAS assistant professor at the North Florida Research and Education Center, addresses winter preparations for the cold-hardy region. Freezes are far more regular occurrences in that area.

Shahid discusses his research with silicon, which appears to boost citrus trees’ resistance to freezes. He also tells how a new mandarin variety, nicknamed Greenie, may have found a home in the cold-hardy region.

The podcast is partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

Michael Rogers, director of the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center, gives an update on citrus in the Caribbean and how UF/IFAS scientists collaborate with colleagues in those countries to advance citrus production knowledge.

The podcast also provides updates on citrus production in South America, Brazil, the Indian subcontinent, Israel, Africa and the Mediterranean. One of the key takeaway messages from the episode is that sharing knowledge with other production regions benefits all citrus growers globally. UF/IFAS scientists say that, in most cases, U.S. citrus producers can gain beneficial knowledge by following what is happening in other parts of the world.

Flavia Zambon, UF/IFAS assistant professor, gives an update on citrus in her home country of Brazil. The world’s largest citrus producer has begun to feel the bite of HLB more acutely in recent years. In addition, an ongoing drought in Brazil is challenging citrus production.

Tripti Vashisth, UF/IFAS associate professor, discusses citrus production on the Indian subcontinent. Interestingly, growers in that part of the world have been dealing with HLB for more than 100 years but have remained relatively productive. Vashisth said that is due in part to the region’s better soils and production practices.

The podcast is a partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

Lauren Diepenbrock, associate professor of entomology at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC), addresses pest management in CUPS. While CUPS successfully keeps out the psyllid, other pests are small enough to breach the mesh netting. Those pests include chilli thrips, lebbeck mealybug and mites.

Diepenbrock discusses her research on how these pests enter, survive and multiply in CUPS and the latest knowledge on managing the pests. She also provides information on strategies like introducing beneficial insects in the structures to manage the pests.

Megan Dewdney, UF/IFAS associate professor of plant pathology at the CREC, joins the discussion to talk about disease management in CUPS. She says greasy spot and citrus canker have been the most problematic diseases in the system.

Jerry Mixon, a CUPS grower in Central Florida, shares why he tried the CUPS approach and what his experience has been like so far. Mixon says he was impressed with the yields and very high-quality fruit CUPS can produce. He also had experience building similar structures (to exclude birds) when he and his family grew blueberries.

Mixon mostly grows grapefruit in his CUPS but is evaluating other varieties in collaboration with UF/IFAS. He has also worked with Diepenbrock and Dewdney on pest and disease trials in his structures.

Griffin has focused much of the trial work on the OLL variety line, which was developed by Jude Grosser, UF/IFAS professor of plant cell genetics. Both Griffin and Grosser are podcast guests this month.

Grosser discusses his research developing the OLL varieties and why he believes they are a good fit for Florida growers. The OLL line grew out of his relationship with Orie Lee. Lee was a legend in citrus breeding circles and discovered an interesting tree in his research groves near Saint Cloud, Florida, where the original OLL cuttings were taken.

Grosser has developed several OLL varieties that are now commercially available. Combinations like OLL-8 on UFR-4 rootstock have performed well. Grosser also recommended growers consider the Orange 14 rootstock, which has shown some tolerance to both diaprepes and HLB.

Griffin discusses his grove trials and why he selected the OLL line. Tolerance to HLB, good yield and quality are among the reasons he likes the varieties. There are several rootstock/scion combinations he highlights as favorites during the podcast. One of those is OLL-20 on a mutant X639 rootstock. 

Griffin also talks about the importance of a solid production program to promote tree health and productivity. In addition to a solid fertilizer program, he is a big believer in compost and mulch to increase soil organic matter. More frequent and controlled irrigation is also an important part of his program.

Michael Rogers, director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center, shares highlights from the event in this month’s podcast.

Rogers discusses the citrus under protective screen (CUPS) presentation by Arnold Schumann, UF/IFAS professor of soil, water and ecosystem sciences. The presentation included details on the significant increase in acres dedicated to CUPS in Florida and the high value of CUPS-grown crops. Schumann also introduced a new AI chatbot called "CUPS Chat" to assist growers with questions about CUPS production.

Rogers also talks about the Citrus Research and Field Trial (CRAFT) programs and the new cycle of funding for new plantings and therapies in existing groves. Many of the new varieties and therapies that are part of the CRAFT programs have been developed and/or evaluated through UF/IFAS research.

In the podcast, John Chater, UF/IFAS assistant professor of horticultural sciences, provides descriptions of new varieties that have been added to CRAFT and are eligible for the program’s planting incentive.

Sarah Strauss, UF/IFAS associate professor of soil microbiology, also joins the August episode of All In For Citrus to discuss her presentation at the Citrus & Specialty Crop Expo. Her talk focused on ways to measure the impact that cover crops and/or compost have on soil health. She said with Florida’s sandy soils, the practices take time to increase organic matter and soil health, but they do offer potential benefits.

Micheal Rogers, director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center, previews a new, special educational session on alternative crops. Rogers said the session will focus on bamboo, macadamia, avocado and mango production.

The bulk of alternative crop presentations will focus on bamboo, which has been gaining more attention in recent years. Rogers said there are more than 1,000 acres of the crop planted in Florida, and some processing infrastructure is falling into place. Bamboo has food, wood and other use functions and is in high demand. He said the goal of the bamboo presentations is to set realistic expectations about the cost of establishing the crop, growing it and its market potential.

Tripti Vashisth, UF/IFAS associate professor of citrus horticulture, joins the podcast to provide details on the citrus seminars, which include 21 presentations on HLB management and other current topics. She said the primary focus of the presentations will be to provide information that growers can use in their groves right now.

Jamie Burrow, UF/IFAS Extension program manager, talks about the UF/IFAS citrus research booth that will be on the trade show floor. The booth is one of the largest exhibits and is always a highlight for attendees.

Burrow said several key research scientists will be available throughout the event at the booth so growers can have one-on-one interactions with the experts. Attendees can also pick up educational materials in the booth like the new edition of the Florida Citrus Production Guide. And there’s plenty of swag like pens, notepads and other freebies for the taking in the booth.

Don’t miss the latest All In For Citrus episode. And don’t miss the Citrus & Specialty Crop Expo; register here!

One of their big projects is helping to coordinate the citrus seminars for the upcoming Citrus & Specialty Crop Expo on Aug. 20–21 at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa.

Rogers provides a sneak peek of the citrus presentations, which number more than 20. While the Expo program will focus on HLB management, additional topics will be addressed. This includes other diseases and pests, crop insurance considerations and more.

The citrus seminars will provide growers with the latest knowledge on how to optimize trunk injection of oxytetracycline (OTC). New research on OTC applications and degradation and how different varieties respond to treatments will be shared. There will also be a presentation on advancements in automated trunk injection.

Lukasz Stelinski, UF/IFAS professor of entomology and nematology, joins the podcast to give growers useful reminders on Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) management. He stresses the importance of new flush in timing insecticide applications targeting the ACP. Stelinski also emphasizes the importance of dormant sprays during the winter to really push the pest’s population down.

On the disease front, Megan Dewdney, UF/IFAS associate professor of plant pathology, speaks in the podcast about some key disease concerns this time of year, including phytophthora brown rot, algal spot and canker. She adds that melanose could be more problematic than normal due to recent weather patterns of heavier rainfall.

Podcast host Frank Giles caught up with Michael Rogers, CREC director, during the event. Rogers summarized some of the information presented at the OJ Break, including a talk by Nian Wang, UF/IFAS professor and Graves Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair in Biotechnology, on his work to develop a CRISPR citrus tree with resistance to HLB.

Wang has already engaged with the regulatory agencies required to get a CRISPR tree approved for commercial use by growers. Those agencies include the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Rogers said the good news is a CRISPR tree is not a transgenic genetically modified plant, which means the regulatory process is easier to navigate. When a tree is proven to work in real-world grove conditions, it can be moved to growers more quickly. But Rogers added it will take time to identify the right tree.

In addition, Wang discussed an observation he made during his research on letting some rootstock shoots grow up into the canopy of the tree. Some rootstocks have proven to be more tolerant to HLB.

“Studies have shown that the root-die off from HLB is caused by carbohydrate starvation, because the plant is not moving the carbohydrates down to roots from the leaves,” Rogers explained.

Wang observed that the rootstock shoots act as a means to move carbohydrates down to the roots. This could help sustain roots in HLB-infected trees.

“I want to be clear this an observation and not a recommendation from UF/FAS,” Rogers said. “But it might spark some ideas with growers as it did today with the OJ Break audience. And that’s a fact that some of our rootstocks are very tolerant to HLB on their own.”

Also discussed in the May episode of All In For Citrus is managing the growing problem with snails in citrus as well as survey results on grower attitudes toward trunk injection of oxytetracycline. The podcast is a partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

These events are the topic of the April episode of the All In For Citrus podcast. Michael Rogers, director of the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center, opens the podcast with a summary of the presentations given at the Florida Citrus Growers’ Institute. Covered subjects are psyllid management, rootstock interactions with oxytetracycline (OTC), the development of a Bacillus thuringiensis citrus tree, optimizing the use of plant growth regulators (PGRs) and an update from the UF/IFAS Crop Transformation Center.

Tripti Vashisth, UF/IFAS associate professor of citrus horticulture, discusses in more detail her Florida Citrus Growers’ Institute presentation on the use of PGRs like gibberellic acid to improve tree health and yields. Vashisth has developed a program approach utilizing various types of PGRs during different parts of the season.

Her results show yield and quality improvements in line with the use of OTC. She added that her PGR program would be a good option to apply during the label-required off year of OTC use. The PGRs are also a good complement to use with OTC.

Sarah Strauss, UF/IFAS associate professor of soil microbiology, details the SFWREC citrus field day and the tour stop she hosted on the use of cover crops and compost to boost soil and tree health. Her research is studying how compost in conjunction with cover crops can benefit soil.

 The podcast is a partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

Rogers says the seminars were well attended at the Florida Citrus Show and covered a wide range of topics. One highlight was a grower panel, which he says was a good example of growers and researchers collaborating.

“It was good to hear that the growers on the panel were committed to hanging in there and continuing to fight HLB,” says Rogers. “I really appreciated that they are sharing information and working closely with the researchers.”

Chris Oswalt, citrus Extension agent for Polk and Hillsborough counties, also joins the podcast this month to give more details on the Citrus Institute. There’s a change in the program this year that he believes growers will appreciate. After lunch, rather than going back into a seminar setting with speakers, there will be researchers from the various UF/IFAS citrus labs available to answer specific questions from attendees. It will be a way that growers can build their own educational experience. The Citrus Institute will be providing continuing education units for growers.

Also in the March podcast, UF/IFAS weed scientist Ramdas Kanissery discusses his research aimed at helping citrus growers manage weeds. He says this is a tough task given Florida’s climate and large weed-seed bank in the soil. One area he is studying is the growing tolerance weeds are developing to important herbicides like glyphosate. He also talks about the role cover crops could play in weed management.

“The months of February and March are full of meetings with our faculty one-on-one where we go over the accomplishments of the past year,” Rogers said. “It allows us to see what’s going on more in-depth about the progress being made in research with each faculty member. There are areas where great progress is being made, but they might need more resources and support to make things happen.”

He added that the emphasis is on keeping research moving forward, especially when it comes to HLB. It’s all hands on deck when it comes to HLB.

Rogers said he has reviewed some very promising work in this year’s faculty evaluations. One project is looking at how the HLB bacterium moves from cell to cell in the tree. Molecules that allow the bacteria to move throughout the plant have been identified. By using techniques like CRISPR, scientists could develop a way to prevent those molecules from having the ability to pass along the HLB bacteria.

Another study he mentioned is a project looking at the HLB tolerance of the Parson Brown orange. UF/IFAS is studying why the variety has this tolerance to the disease. This is useful information in developing future HLB-tolerant varieties.

Also in this episode, UF/IFAS associate professor Davie Kadyampakeni shares the latest information on the work to update citrus nutrient recommendations for Florida’s best management practices program. And Ute Albrecht, UF/IFAS associate professor, discusses what has been learned to optimize trunk-injection applications of oxytetracycline.

The approach involves inserting a gene into a citrus tree that produces a protein that can kill young ACPs. That gene normally occurs in a soil-borne bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). The use of Bt has long been used in row crops like cotton and corn to protect against certain pests.

While the citrus Bt research is promising, the story was picked up by (non-agricultural) media and was portrayed as a “cure” for HLB that was right around the corner. Michael Rogers, director of the UF/IFAS Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred, Florida, addressed this during the January 2025 All In For Citrus podcast.

He wanted to set proper expectations about the Bt research and potential time frames. He noted, assuming that the research progressed well, it could be up to five to eight years before it could be available to growers.

“This looks great in the greenhouse, but we really need to get it out into the field to see how it does in real-world conditions,” Rogers said. “That’s what the researchers are doing right now, getting more plants into the field. And we’ll probably need at least three years of field data to show how these plants perform in terms of ACP control, how much HLB is reduced in the trees and if there is any resistance developing. And how do the plants perform (agronomically)?

“I say all this to be sure growers understand that this is not far enough along to be making business decisions on right now. But we want to be sure folks are aware the research is moving forward.”

Also in the January episode of All In For Citrus, UF/IFAS researchers who spoke during the recent Citrus Nutrition Day provide a recap of the event.

The podcast is a partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

This was a topic of discussion during the December episode of the All In For Citrus podcast. Michael Rogers, director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center, joins the episode to give an update on the progress being made toward a tree that has the necessary HLB tolerance to be a viable candidate to help turn the industry around.

Rogers discusses the conventional breeding efforts and work in gene editing and transgenics aimed at delivering a rootstock of variety tolerant or resistant to HLB. While progress is being made, he cautioned it is still some time yet before this research yields a tree that is commercially available to growers. But he added that getting new varieties to growers faster is understood, as evidenced by the way the research community is approaching the task.

John Chater, UF/IFAS assistant professor of horticultural sciences, also joins the podcast to discuss his collaborations with growers to evaluate varieties and rootstocks that have exhibited better tolerance to HLB. He commented on results of the recent Florida Citrus State of the Industry Survey conducted by Citrus Industry.

Also in the December podcast episode, Chris Oswalt, UF/IFAS citrus Extension agent, shares some tips to prepare for winter and the steps to take should freeze protection be necessary. His main take-home message is to have a plan and know exactly what you need to do when a freeze is forecast. Don’t want until to the day before to prepare.

The podcast is a partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

Michael Rogers, director of the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center, was among the attendees. He discusses the trip in the November episode of the All In For Citrus podcast. Rogers describes citrus growing on the island of Jeju. There’s about 54,000 acres of citrus grown there with annual production of about 15 million boxes. There is no confirmed presence of HLB on the island.

HLB was a major topic of discussion during the event. Water availability was also a focus of the presentations. Many citrus production regions are facing water shortfalls. This is expected to get worse as the climate changes and more demand is put on water supplies.

Brazil is one of those regions dealing with water availability. The country’s last crop was reduced by about 20% due to drought stress. Brazil also has seen a spike in HLB infection rates, which is forcing growers to plant new groves north of the current main growing regions.

Mohammad Shahid, UF/IFAS assistant professor of horticulture, also joined the podcast to provide an update on the cold-hardy citrus region. Production continues to expand in the area with some 7,000 to 8,000 acres of citrus.

Also in the November episode, Flavia Zambon discusses a field day hosted at the UF/IFAS Indian River Research and Education Center in Fort Pierce, Florida. The field day featured a tour of the experimental Millennium Block, which is evaluating HLB tolerance of various rootstock/scion combinations. The block is one of the largest trials for HLB tolerance in grapefruit.

The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) quickly organized a webinar after the storm to provide growers with information about resources available to rehab trees and seek financial assistance. The webinar is the topic of the October All In For Citrus podcast.

Michael Rogers, director of the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC), shares highlights of the webinar and gives updates on what he was hearing and seeing in groves after the storm. He also discusses how CREC facilities and groves made it through the storm.

Chris Oswalt, UF/IFAS citrus Extension agent for Polk and Hillsborough counties, talks about the path of the storm and how it impacted various citrus-growing regions. He says the storm had a large wind field with 70 to 80 mph winds reaching well inland across Florida. He also draws some comparisons between Hurricane Milton and Hurricane Ian, which struck in 2022.

Tripti Vashisth, UF/IFAS associate professor of horticultural sciences, joins the podcast to provide guidance on the use of plant growth regulators to help reduce the amount of fruit drop in the wake of the storm. Applied in a timely manner, 2,4-D can reduce delayed fruit drop that could be caused by Milton.

To learn more about Hurricane Milton damage and resources available to help growers, don’t miss the October episode of All In For Citrus. The podcast is a partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

Based at the Indian River Research and Education Center in Fort Pierce, Ritenour has worked with UF/IFAS for 26 years. Much of his research has focused on the fresh fruit industry. That is also the focus of Packinghouse Day, which marked its 63rd year in 2024.

Ritenour said despite the sharp contraction of the fresh citrus segment in recent years, Packinghouse Day has maintained a loyal following of growers, packers and stakeholders who value the meeting and the opportunity to get together with industry peers.

The educational program touched on a wide range of topics. Scott McClure, with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, informed growers and packers about the services the agency offers to help prepare for food safety audits and other audits.

The meeting also addressed movement of fruit between states.

“There are agreements between Florida, Alabama and Georgia on the movement of fruit, but you must contact your respective departments of agriculture (and get clearance), along with preharvest grove inspections to get certificates to harvest the fruit and transport it across those boarders,” Ritenour said. “The good news is you can do it, and there are procedures in place (to accommodate the movement).”

There was a presentation from Paul Mears of the U.S. Department of Agriculture on the phytosanitary requirements of key export markets for fresh citrus. Other topics addressed included disease management and requirements to avoid the potential of pest movement in shipments. Ritenour discusses these presentations in the podcast.

A highlight of Packinghouse Day was the John T. Lesley Award of Excellence presentation. The honor was first presented in 1981 to John T. Lesley for “recognition of an individual for outstanding leadership and service on behalf of the Florida fresh citrus industry.” This year’s winner is Lindsay Raley Jr. of Dundee Citrus Growers Association.

Also in the podcast, Michael Rogers, CREC director, provides a rundown of a busy slate of citrus events planned for this fall. Don’t miss the September episode of All In For Citrus. The podcast is a partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

Michael Rogers, director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center, said the citrus research team relies on input from growers to develop the seminar program and tries to cover hot-button issues of the moment.

“Obviously, oxytetracycline (OTC) trunk-injection therapies are a real hot topic in the industry, so we had a couple of presentations at the Expo on the topic,” Rogers said. “We also heard about some research from our foundational programs on things like nutrient and irrigation management.”

Rogers added that a few speakers discussed longer-term research to deliver an HLB-resistant citrus tree. Among those speakers was Charlie Messina, who is the director of the UF/IFAS Crop Transformation Center.

Ute Albrecht, UF/IFAS associate professor of plant physiology, joined the podcast to discuss her presentation on research regarding OTC applications. She said growers have learned a lot about trunk injection in the past two seasons and they are applying that knowledge in the grove.

Albrecht discussed how citrus trees benefit from multiple trunk-injection sites to split applications and better distribute OTC benefits throughout a tree. This practice also helps reduce any phytotoxicity responses after applications, which were observed this year.

Manjul Dutt, UF/IFAS assistant professor of horticultural sciences, also joined the podcast to talk about his presentation at the Expo featuring early-season varieties that have shown improved tolerance to HLB. Chief among those varieties is Parson Brown, which is more than 100 years old and has captured grower attention due to its productivity despite HLB infection.

To hear more about these presentations from the Citrus & Specialty Crop Expo, don’t miss the August episode of All In For Citrus. The podcast is a partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

As citrus growers try to stabilize production in the midst of endemic HLB, maintaining the industry’s infrastructure is critically important. Two key sectors of that infrastructure are citrus nurseries and juice processors.

In the July episode of the All In For Citrus podcast, Michael Rogers, director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center, discusses research efforts aimed at helping those two sectors.

“One of the vital parts of our industry is the citrus nursery segment, and right now, they are having a hard time moving plant material and getting orders,” Rogers says. “If these nurseries go out of business, we won’t have anywhere to go to get our trees. So, we feel it is really important that we help support them.”

Among the efforts to support nurseries is the promotion of growing dooryard citrus through the UF/IFAS Home Citrus Project. Dooryard citrus has been an important lifeline for nurseries as commercial demand has fallen off due to HLB.

“Homeowners typically have one or two trees in their yard and want to baby those trees,” Rogers says. “We have stepped back into the homeowner arena with some of our educational programs.”

The project is engaging with Master Gardeners to give them tools to teach about best practices when it comes to raising a citrus tree at home. A homeowner newsletter and a website dedicated to home growing are also part of the project.

On the juice processing side, Rogers discusses research by Yu Wang, UF/IFAS associate professor of food science. She has recently identified a compound in citrus peels that helps inhibit a bacterium in the human gut that can contribute to cardiovascular disease.

“In an average year, we generate 5 million tons of orange peel waste just from processing round oranges,” Rogers says. “About half of that goes to cattle feed, but the other half is basically thrown away at the processors’ expense.”

Wang’s research could lead to a dietary supplement to encourage heart health using orange peel as the source. This could give orange juice processors a much needed new revenue stream.

To hear more about efforts to support nurseries and processors, listen to the July episode of All In For Citrus. The podcast is a partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

The educational seminars at the June Florida Citrus Industry Annual Conference covered a wide range of topics intended to give growers hope that progress is being made in the fight against HLB.

During the June All In For Citrus podcast, Michael Rogers, director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center, discussed presentations UF/IFAS scientists made at the conference.

“We had two of our faculty speak on topics of relative importance and things growers can incorporate in the grove now,” Rogers said.

Ute Albrecht, UF/IFAS associate professor of plant physiology, spoke about her latest research on trunk-injection therapy. She presented some new data collected over the past season.

“In general, what she presented was most of her trial sites are showing improvements in health metrics they are measuring in terms of canopy growth, overall appearance of the trees and some increases in fruit yields and maybe some Brix improvements in some locations,” Rogers said. “The results have not all been consistent, and she will tell you that not all trees are the same. There is a mixed bag of results out there. Every tree is a different individual, so they are going to respond (to treatments) differently. But over time, as the trees have received multiple treatments, we are hopeful those benefits will increase.”

Albrecht observed where growers do double-sided injections on the tree trunk, oxytetracycline (OTC) is distributed more evenly throughout the tree. Rogers said that might not be practical for growers in every grove and on every tree, but there is evidence it is beneficial.

Tripti Vashisth, UF/IFAS associate professor of horticultural sciences, presented her research on the use of plant growth regulators (PGRs). Rogers noted that PGR applications will be a key benefit when growers must take a break applying OTC next season per label requirements.

One new observation is that gibberellic acid applied via irrigation along with foliar applications provides better results than foliar applications or chemigation alone. 

“Where gibberellic acid was foliar applied and supplemented by chemigation was where she saw the biggest benefit in terms of fruit yield increases and tree health increases,” Rogers said. “That was new and interesting information.”

Get more details on this research and more in the June episode of All In For Citrus. The podcast is a partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

Late spring and early summer are busy times for University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) citrus scientists. They are out in the field preparing new research projects for the coming season and assessing data from ongoing projects.

Michael Rogers, director of the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center, discusses some of that work during the May All In For Citrus podcast episode. He is particularly excited about some variety development work moving into field trials to be tested in the real-world environment to see how well trees resist HLB and perform in general.

Manjul Dutt, UF/IFAS assistant professor of horticultural sciences, will be planting some of his transgenic citrus varieties, which have shown resistance to HLB.

“These are replicated trials. And these varieties have not been in the field yet, so it is exciting to see those going out into the field,” Rogers says.

Another project progressing into field trials is work by UF/IFAS geneticist Nian Wang. He is using gene-editing techniques and CRISPR to develop citrus plants resistant to HLB. Work in the laboratory and greenhouse has been very promising. Now, these non-transgenic plants are going out into the field for the real test.

“We are going to be guardedly optimistic about them and watching them over the next few years to see how they hold up, perform and resist HLB,” Rogers says. “We will keep everyone updated on how they are looking. But for the first six or eight months, we don’t expect to have much to report. It is usually after about a year that we can start reporting on disease status, and then after about three years, we’ll start seeing and reporting on fruit and yields.”

Learn more about these research projects in the May episode of All In For Citrus. The podcast is a joint partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

April was a busy month for citrus events. The Florida Citrus Show was held April 3 in Fort Pierce followed by the Florida Citrus Growers’ Institute in Avon Park on April 9. These events were a topic of discussion between All In For Citrus podcast host Frank Giles and Michael Rogers, director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center, during the April episode.

The Florida Citrus Show was held at the neighboring UF/IFAS Indian River Research and Education Center (IRREC) and U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service U.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory.

Rogers shared some news regarding the IRREC in the podcast; a new center director has recently been named. Mark Kistler will take the leadership position in June. Kistler currently is professor and dean of the School of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, Georgia.

“Mark is a longtime Floridian originally,” said Rogers. “He grew up in Winter Haven. We are glad to see him coming back to lead that station as they move forward with their research plans.”

Rogers also provided some highlights from the Florida Citrus Growers’ Institute. The event covered an array of citrus production topics.

“We heard an update from Dr. Ute Albrecht on oxytetracycline trunk injections. She continues to see some promising data in her trials in terms of yield increase and possibly some Brix increase,” Rogers said. “They are still looking at how much fruit quality is impacted, but it is probably more of an overall tree health issue, as they are managing the HLB bacteria levels and seeing results that manifest in terms of leaf growth and how that affects fruit quality down the road. She also gave growers tips based on what she’s finding in her research.”

To hear more about April’s citrus events and to learn about ways to maximize citrus irrigation, don’t miss this episode of All In For Citrus. The podcast is a partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

As winter transitions to spring, it is important to monitor irrigation needs in citrus. This is especially true in Florida, where nearly all trees are infected with HLB. Irrigation was a topic of discussion during the March episode of the All In For Citrus podcast.

Michael Rogers, director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center, says this is a key time to be thinking about irrigation and how it will affect next year’s yields.

“We’ve come out of a time where it has been relatively wet. It is not evenly distributed rain throughout the season, but for the central and south part of the state, we are anywhere from a little above normal to as much as 4 inches above normal rainfall,” Rogers says. “So, we’ve come out of a pretty good winter compared to past years. That is good news to help these trees recovery a little bit and deal with things post-hurricanes. But right now, we are approaching what is typically the driest time of year and when we start seeing the temperatures rise.”

According to Rogers, all of this occurs while bloom is happening, so now is a critical time for irrigation and not letting trees experience water deficits. Proper irrigation can be the key factor in setting the crop for the coming year.

With the root loss trees have experienced due to HLB, more frequent irrigation is even more important because there are fewer roots in the ground to absorb moisture. Rogers reviews some other key irrigation considerations during the episode.

Lauren Diepenbrock, UF/IFAS entomologist, also joins the podcast to talk about bugs and snails. She shares tips on scouting and management of the pests.

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

Florida citrus growers are now well into their second application of oxytetracycline (OTC) via trunk injection to treat HLB. Per the label of both registered OTC products, after two applications, there is a one-year treatment pause.

So, growers will be formulating plans on what to do during the off-season for OTC-treated trees. That was the subject of discussion during the February episode of the All In For Citrus podcast. Michael Rogers, director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center, advised that a solid fertilizer program is going to be critical.

“We can’t stress enough the importance of nutrition when we are dealing with HLB. I know that sounds like a broken record because we are constantly saying that, but it really is the No. 1 thing that you can do to keep trees productive and healthy,” Rogers said. “In some of our research blocks, we really have had some excellent results with some of our more expensive fertilizer programs. After four or five years, these trees have really healthy root systems, the canopies are lush and green, and the Brix has been very high in fruit. This is where we’ve been using these expensive controlled-release fertilizer applications.”

The high cost of these nutrition programs can be difficult for growers to afford, so researchers are beginning to seek out which elements are most responsible for the great results evident in those blocks.

“We do know there are differences in the micronutrient and macronutrient amounts and how they are delivered to the tree,” Rogers said. “We have allocated some funds to seek out how we can develop the right blend of minor and major nutrients at a cost much lower to growers.”  

To hear more about this research and catch up with Flavia Zambon, who was recently named UF/IFAS assistant professor of production horticulture of citrus and other tree crops, don’t miss the February episode. Also in the podcast this month is a sneak peek at upcoming events, including the Florida Citrus Show.

The All In For Citrus podcast is a partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media. Find all the episodes here.

If you grow citrus in Florida, you’ve probably heard the term CRISPR used in discussions about gene editing to find HLB resistance. CRISPR is complicated science but holds great promise in fighting both human and plant diseases.

At the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), Nian Wang, a professor of microbiology and cell science, has been developing CRISPR citrus trees that hopefully will deliver HLB resistance.

During the latest episode of All In For Citrus podcast, Michael Rogers, director of the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred, has an extended conversation with Wang about his work with CRISPR and gene editing.

Rogers and Wang break down the science of gene editing and discuss the progress made toward finding tolerance or resistance to HLB. It has been a long process, but now potentially HLB-resistant trees have been grown out from a single cell into trees almost ready to be planted in a grove for testing in the real world.

Wang has been working with CRISPR in citrus since 2013. The first transgenic-free, gene-edited citrus plants were accomplished in 2022. The research team has been working with about 40 different targets that might have potential in resisting HLB. Because of the inability to culture the HLB bacterium, it has been harder to narrow down the target genes than it was for citrus canker. However, Wang believes there are seven or eight genes that hold promise in promoting HLB tolerance or resistance.

During the podcast, Wang goes into more detail about the process of taking a single cell in a petri dish to a citrus tree growing in a grove. Don’t miss the January episode of All In For Citrus to learn more about the pioneering science of CRISPR.

The podcast is a partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

Michael Rogers, the director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center, and some of his colleagues recently attended the Asian Citrus Congress in India. During the November All In For Citrus podcast, Rogers discusses what was learned and observed on the trip.

While many of India’s citrus groves are small-scale operations, the country’s citrus production is growing. This is despite being among the first countries to deal with HLB, because the disease’s origins are believed to be in Asia. Rogers said a Florida contingent visited several citrus-producing areas in India to learn how growers are surviving with HLB.

“If you look at where India sits, they are ranked No. 3 in global citrus production. If you look at metric tons produced, they are a big player in citrus,” Rogers said. “The United States is No. 6 on the list, and they are doing almost double the production that we are.”

Rogers said it is worth looking at how India’s citrus industry is continuing to survive and grow in the presence of HLB. At the conference, HLB was top of mind because it seems the disease is causing more problems recently than in the past.

“That raises the question: Why now for these growers? We heard from the speakers that there has been a lot of changes in weather patterns, and it is creating a new environment for citrus that is playing a role in HLB expression in that part of the world,” explained Rogers. “They are seeing a lot of variation not so much in the amount of rainfall but in the distribution of rain. So, there are now extended periods of time where there is no rain, followed by a lot of rain. This is causing issues for the trees and root health.”

Rogers said, like in Florida, these stresses put on trees are allowing HLB symptoms to be expressed more acutely. This is driving growers and researchers to develop more region-specific water management practices in India to deal with these changing weather patterns. To hear more from Rogers, check out the November episode of All In For Citrus. The podcast is a joint partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

Many people believe genetics will be the eventual key that unlocks more permanent solutions to HLB. Whether it be traditional breeding or new technologies, one day there could be a citrus tree that is resistant or tolerant enough to make the disease a non-factor.

One such key could be CRISPR technology to deliver a tree that is engineered to resist HLB. That is the topic of the All In For Citrus podcast October episode. Podcast host Frank Giles and Michael Rogers, director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center, have an extended discussion on the topic.

Rogers said there has been a great deal of interest among growers about the potential use of CRISPR to develop a tree resistant or tolerant to HLB. While a good deal of research progress has been made with the technology, he wants to set realistic expectations about the timeline of the research. It is a time-consuming process that targets single genes within the citrus DNA. Cells are grown starting in a Petri dish before eventually growing into a traditional citrus plant. Only then can testing in the field be conducted to see if true resistance has been achieved.

During the podcast, Rogers details the research being conducted by Nian Wang, a UF/IFAS microbiologist, who has pioneered CRISPR work in citrus. Wang was the first scientist in the world to transform citrus using the CRISPR technique.

Wang has already transformed four lines of citrus to be resistant to canker. These plants are a proof-of-concept as the research targets HLB resistance. Rogers said there is more work to be done, but Wang’s CRISPR science holds much promise.

To hear more about CRISPR and the search for HLB resistance, don’t miss the October episode of All In For Citrus. The podcast is a joint partnership between AgNet Media and UF/IFAS.

One of the overlooked casualties of tropical storms and hurricanes is field research conducted by scientists at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS). Research on new varieties, plant treatments and other practices can be upended in a day by a violent storm.

That happened to some of Christopher Vincent’s research. The UF/IFAS assistant professor of environmental physiology saw some of his grove trials disrupted by Hurricane Ian last year. So, he decided to turn lemons into lemonade by shifting the focus of his research to study the after-effects of the hurricane and what mitigation efforts seem to help groves recover.

Vincent joined the September All In For Citrus podcast to discuss this research and what he found in the aftermath of Ian. He said it can take as long as six months for citrus trees to fully decline after being impacted by a hurricane. Vincent noted his research will help growers establish benchmarks of what to expect during future storms. It also will add to existing knowledge on production practices that are most beneficial after tropical systems.

Gillian Zeng Michalczyk, a UF/IFAS master’s student who assisted on the project, joined Vincent in the podcast discussion.

A grower-cooperator, Jake Pendergrass, also participated in the podcast to discuss how Hurricane Ian affected his groves and steps he took to rehabilitate them.

On a positive note, Pendergrass spoke about his experience injecting citrus trees with oxytetracycline (OTC) for the first time this season. He treated about half his family’s grove acreage. Pendergrass reported that treated trees look good and seem to be responding well to OTC. Meanwhile, those trees not treated with OTC continue to decline. That makes him believe OTC is having a positive benefit on HLB-infected citrus.

Listen to the September episode of All In For Citrus. The podcast is a joint partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

With the trunk-injection season winding down in Florida groves, growers anxiously await to see positive results in HLB-infected trees. Two oxytetracycline (OTC) products have been approved for use in Florida citrus as HLB treatments. A third OTC formulation expects Environmental Protection Agency approval soon.

Trunk-injection treatments are the focus of the latest All In For Citrus podcast. Michael Rogers, director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred, joins Ute Albrecht, UF/IFAS associate professor of plant physiology, for an in-depth conversation about OTC injections. They discuss what was learned as the first application was made in groves.

Albrecht noted that OTC trunk injection is among the most significant breakthroughs in HLB research since the disease was confirmed in Florida nearly two decades ago. She has been a leading UF/IFAS researcher on OTC usage in citrus. Albrecht said if results in commercial groves mirror that of research trials, the industry could see some significant improvements in tree health and production.

While it is still too early to know for sure, she said there are some encouraging reports that trees are responding. But it will likely be after next season’s harvest before it is fully known just how beneficial the OTC treatments have been.

The podcast takes a deep dive into previous research, best application practices and what’s next when it comes to trunk-injection therapies. While Rogers and Albrecht acknowledge OTC therapy is not the silver bullet, it hopefully serves as a significant bridge to help growers remain viable until a long-term solution is found.

Don’t miss this episode of the All In For Citrus podcast to get the latest on OTC trunk injection. The podcast is a joint partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

The Citrus & Specialty Crop Expo is fast approaching, scheduled for Aug. 16–17 at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa. The event is the subject of the July All In For Citrus podcast.

Michael Rogers, director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center, previews the presentation he will be giving during the Expo. While there has been a lot of attention paid to near-term ways to fight HLB in groves, it is important not to lose sight of the longer-term solutions researchers are working on. In his Expo presentation, Rogers will address progress on moving a genetically modified (transgenic) citrus tree through the breeding, evaluation and regulatory processes. And he will give an update on CRISPR gene editing. Both approaches have created trees that hold up very well against HLB. He says it is important growers understand where UF/IFAS research is with both of these techniques.

Tripti Vashisth, UF/IFAS associate professor of horticultural sciences, joins the podcast to talk about the citrus educational seminars that will be held on both days of the Expo. Some of the key citrus scientists will be stepping out from behind the speaker’s podium to participate in a panel discussion so growers can engage with them in a more conversational way about the latest HLB therapies and how to apply them in groves.

Another panel will feature growers who are having success in mitigating the effects of HLB. Some of their groves look healthy and are producing great yields.

Jamie Burrow, UF/IFAS Extension program manager, gives a preview of the UF/IFAS trade show booth. She said the booth will have several interactive elements, including a demonstration on how to use the new Canopy Assist application that helps growers quantify tree health in their groves. There will also be a demo on how to pick the right individual protective cover for newly planted trees.

Burrow notes there will be plenty of “swag” (pencils, pens, notepads, etc.) for growers to pick up while visiting the booth. In addition, there will be lots of educational materials available for the taking.

Hear more about the Citrus & Specialty Crop Expo in the July episode of All In For Citrus. The podcast is joint partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

Speaking at the Florida Citrus Industry Annual Conference in June, Scott Angle, leader of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), reaffirmed the urgency the institution has placed on finding viable solutions to HLB. 

This includes presenting the citrus industry with a road-map document to lay out UF/IFAS HLB research priorities and objectives. One of the approaches will be turning over every stone in the search for solutions. Part of this effort is UF/IFAS researchers traveling to other citrus-producing regions across the globe to assess the impact of HLB and how growers are dealing with the disease.

Christopher Vincent, UF/IFAS assistant professor of environmental physiology, embarked on one such trip recently to Nepal. He joined the June All in For Citrus podcast episode to discuss his trip. Vincent said citrus growers in the region have been dealing with HLB for many years, and like in Florida, the impact on trees varies from one planting to the next.

Citrus in Nepal is grown in mountainous areas on very small plots. Growers don’t have access to the same type of inputs as U.S. growers, but they have managed to produce citrus for hundreds of years.

Vincent said one important observation made during his trip was that growers with good fertilizer and irrigation programs had trees that were withstanding HLB much better than those who did not have good programs. This reinforces what has been observed in Florida — solid production programs are essential in the era of HLB.

Larry Duncan, UF/IFAS professor of nematology, joined the June podcast to discuss a citrus production course that will be offered this fall. It is a great educational program for not only students, but also growers or production managers who want to brush up on their skills.

Hear more about Vincent’s trip to Nepal and the citrus course in the latest episode of All In For Citrus. The podcast is a joint partnership between AgNet Media and UF/IFAS.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

John Chater, assistant professor of horticultural sciences, recently joined the UF/IFAS citrus team to help growers evaluate the many new rootstocks and scions being developed by plant breeders. Chater joined the podcast to talk about his background and new job duties with UF/IFAS. In addition, he spoke about the varieties that have caught his attention in Florida.

On April 5, the Florida Citrus Growers’ Institute will take place in Avon Park. Florida’s citrus Extension agents help organize the event. Ajia Paolillo, an agent based in Arcadia, joined the podcast to discuss the program. HLB, fruit drop and plant nutrition are just a few of the topics that will be covered in the educational sessions. She said the agents are particularly excited to finally be hosting the event in person again after COVID-19 forced the event to go digital during the pandemic.

The All In For Citrus podcast is a joint project of UF/IFAS and AgNet Media. Listen to the March episode here.

UF/IFAS entomologist Kirsten Pelz-Stelinski also joins the podcast to share her research on the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) and a new grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to further her study. The goal of the research is to use bacteria already present inside the ACP to manipulate the pest so it can no longer be a vector of the pathogen that causes HLB. The process is building on previous research Pelz-Stelinski and colleagues have conducted to manipulate the ACP. 

Growers will be interested to hear from Davie Kadyampakeni, a UF/IFAS assistant professor who details his new research on citrus nutrition. He has been studying the impact of macronutrients on yield, tree health and juice quality. Kadyampakeni also has been researching the importance of micronutrients like manganese, boron, zinc and iron. 

“We have seen tremendous success where we have increased the amounts of micronutrients,” Kadyampakeni says. “We are learning we need balanced and constant nutrition for these HLB-affected trees.”

Kadyampakeni says his research also is being applied to update recommendations for citrus nutrient applications that consider the impacts of HLB. 

The All In For Citrus podcast is a joint project of UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

However, the UF/IFAS citrus researchers and Extension agents continue to work hard on behalf of growers, looking for tools they can use now to stay afloat. Rogers, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center director, notes several events in February to get important information out to growers. He also discusses the search for two new positions on the team to further help producers.

UF/IFAS citrus horticulturist Fernando Alferez joins the podcast from the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center (SWFREC) to provide an update on individual protective covers, which researchers are testing on young citrus. He and his team just concluded a multi-year trial on the system and saw both an increase in quality and yield. In addition, Alferez details results of some in-season treatments of relatively inexpensive products that are showing less fruit drop in Hamlin groves.

Reducing fruit drop is also something Ute Albrecht, a UF/IFAS plant physiologist at the SWFREC, is seeing in her trunk-injection research. Albrecht joins the podcast episode to share findings from a multi-year study in which a single injection reduced fruit drop dramatically. She talks about the challenges of the delivery system and new technology that may make it a practical option for growers. Albrecht reminds growers that trunk injection is still being studied and not a recommendation from advisors.

Michael Rogers, director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center, notes that the continuing pandemic and low production are dampening the holiday cheer this year. However, recent research recommendations and the return of events should give the citrus industry reasons to be jolly.

In the December episode of the All In For Citrus podcast, Rogers discusses the gibberellic acid research and recommendations developed by UF/IFAS that can reverse the effects of huanglongbing disease. There has been some misinformation about the use of the product. Rogers clearly outlines gibberellic acid use and its flexibility due to not being a pesticide.

After ringing in the new year, the citrus industry will gather for a major show in January. The Florida Grower Citrus Show is Jan. 26–27 at the Havert L. Fenn Center in Fort Pierce, Florida. The event is a great opportunity for UF/IFAS scientists to communicate their ongoing research. UF/IFAS’ Mark Ritenour and Sandra Guzman join the December podcast episode to talk about the educational lineup at the show, including their presentations, during the two-day event.

Michael Rogers, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC) director, discusses the recent CREC open house where breeders displayed potential new varieties for the industry to see. Rogers says growers get a chance to taste and rate the fruit, which is valuable information for researchers. The open house also included several field tours, including one that Rogers describes as extremely practical that involves techniques growers can use now to keep operations profitable in the midst of HLB disease.

Once UF/IFAS completes the process of creating a new variety for release to the public, several things need to happen next that involve partnerships. That’s where Peter Chaires, executive director of New Varieties Development & Management Corp. (NVDMC), and John Beuttenmuller, executive director of Florida Foundation Seed Producers, Inc. enter the equation.

The non-profit Florida Foundation Seed Producers is a direct support organization that bridges the gap between UF/IFAS and growers. NVDMC, also a non-profit, files patents on the new products and works with nurseries and partner companies for fresh fruit varieties.

Chaires says NVDMC brings new varieties to commercialization. He explains how the process has changed over the years for the better, streamlining the development chain and increasing efficiency.

The patents that NVDMC file on new varieties provide a steady income for future development. Beuttenmuller said 70% of the royalties from those patents are returned to the UF/IFAS citrus breeding program.

For the full story, listen to the November All In For Citrus podcast here.

The September episode of the All In For Citrus podcast is a special edition focused on one subject. University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) researchers have identified a breakthrough treatment for huanglongbing (HLB) that greatly reduces the effects of the disease. 

Michael Rogers, director of the Citrus Research and Education Center, said a lot of UF/IFAS research has focused on reducing citrus tree stress. While running a trial, citrus researchers tested several products on trees to see if they could reduce the oxidative stress that is caused by several diseases, including HLB. Rogers said they quickly noticed that gibberellic acid (GA) was standing out among the products trialed. Gibberellic acid is a common plant growth regulator in the industry.

After running tests with GA sprays on Valencia oranges, Rogers said the research team is confident it has identified a major tool for growers that can keep them profitable amidst the disease. 

“Some things may not be cost-effective in our research, and we may not go down that route,” Rogers said. “In the case of this work with gibberellic acid, it’s a tremendous benefit for such a little cost.”

Rogers warned growers though that UF/IFAS researchers have only tested GA on Valencia oranges, and there are specific guidelines growers must follow to avoid a negative effect. He also cautioned that this is another tool in the toolbox to help growers manage HLB disease, albeit a very effective one. 

Tripti Vashisth, one of the researchers working on the trial, has seen an incredible dollar increase per acre in the test plot. She will be leading a virtual talk on Tuesday, Sept. 21 about GA guidelines. Rogers said the presentation will be recorded. Growers can register for the meeting and find more information at the UF/IFAS Citrus Research website.

Listen to the September All In For Citrus podcast here.

Citrus Research and Education Center Director Michael Rogers begins the episode with an overview of the seminars at this year’s Citrus Expo. He said his University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) citrus team will be presenting a full lineup of sessions on Wednesday, Aug. 18. Talks will fall under three sections — pathology, entomology and horticulture. While HLB research will be covered, Rogers said there is a lot more that will be addressed in all aspects of production. He hopes attendees will be able to walk away from the sessions this year with actionable tools that can help them stay productive.

Next up, UF/IFAS entomologist Lauren Diepenbrock talks about an emerging pest in CUPS production systems. Chilli thrips are so small that they can fit through most screens. She said there are some unanswered questions about the situation, including where the pest pupates and why it isn’t an issue in traditional production. Research has already begun, and Diepenbrock hopes to have some answers soon for growers who have invested in the high-cost system for fresh fruit production.

Florida growers face threats from hot temperatures during the summer months. UF/IFAS Extension agent Amir Rezazadeh details how heat combined with little water can cause major damage to both trees and humans. He shares the key signs to keep an eye out for in groves when it comes to plants and workers.

Wrapping up the episode is UF/IFAS Extension Program Manager Jamie Burrow. She brings the listeners back to the topic of Citrus Expo, where the UF/IFAS trade show booth will look a little different this year. The open space will feature hands-on, digital and physical information for growers. The booth will be more interactive this year, so growers can take home things they can use in the grove, along with the newly updated Citrus Production Guide.

Listen to the July episode of the All In For Citrus podcast.

Before hearing from the coordinators of the program, Citrus Research and Education Center Director Michael Rogers shares updates on key events coming up this summer for the industry. The first is the Citrus, Vegetable and Specialty Crop Expo in North Fort Myers, Florida, on Aug. 18–19. Rogers says planning is quickly progressing for 18 citrus talks in the seminar program. His team is excited to be back in-person and looks forward to connecting with growers on the trade show floor.

Soon after the Citrus Expo is the 60th anniversary of Citrus Packinghouse Day on Aug. 26. It will also be returning to in-person after a virtual-style shift last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rogers says the event is loaded with post-harvest research information and is also a great opportunity to socialize with fellow industry members.

While in-person events are reemerging, Rogers says some of the online information will not be going away. He says the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) citrus team saw great response to digital efforts and will continue to produce online content that growers can use on a daily basis. All of that information can be found on the UF/IFAS Citrus Research website.

UF/IFAS Horticultural Sciences and Citrus Extension Specialist Tripti Vashisth and Extension Program Manager Jamie Burrow have worked hard to coordinate the nutrition box program. It was one of the few services that continued through the pandemic.

“This first year, so through the pandemic, we had over 70 participants,” Burrow says. “This year, as we start year two, we have over 90 different locations that are participating in the program.”

Vashisth believes the customized information specific to a grower’s environment is what makes the program popular. “We are taking into account all of the factors, and we put a lot of time into this,” she says. “I think growers are appreciating that, and they see the value and that the trees do respond when you take care of their nutritional needs.”

University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center Director Michael Rogers begins the podcast discussing collaboration between growers and researchers. “This is something that we are going to be talking about more in the future,” Rogers said. “You could even say that these collaborations are part of our DNA. They are why we are here.”

As more in-person events are scheduled coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rogers said it has been refreshing to be able to talk with growers again. Travel and visitor restrictions have eased, and he believes UF/IFAS will start having in-person meetings soon.

Florida’s revised budget announcement was also good news for the citrus team. Rogers said there were no cuts to their system; a small increase was actually seen. He said this will allow UF/IFAS to fill some vacant positions that were put on hold. Most important among these positions is a citrus plant improvement horticulturist. The position will work closely with growers on large-scale field trials. Zoom meeting invitations were sent to growers to participate in the hiring process.

UF/IFAS citrus breeder and geneticist Fred Gmitter and grower Tom Hammond are a real-world example of the researcher/grower relationship. Gmitter said what this partnership has allowed him to experiment with is unprecedented. Hammond dedicates 16 acres of land to Gmitter’s variety trials and shoulders most of the cost. Gmitter said the arrangement is especially unique because the block does not produce any marketable fruit, and Hammond is not able to recoup any of his costs.

Hammond believes that isn’t the point. “What I learned very quickly was that you can take varieties from around the world … and you can bring them over here to Florida and they don’t necessarily do well,” he said. “If we were going to be successful in developing new cultivars … it was going to be super important that some of this stuff was homegrown.”

Citrus Research and Education Center Director Michael Rogers said the project is a good example of citrus researchers taking a more comprehensive look at problems in the industry. “We’re starting to put all the pieces together and develop these integrated approaches — really focusing on what can growers do now,” he said.

The project, “Establishing Healthy Citrus Plantings in the Face of Persistent HLB Pressure,” is led by Lauren Diepenbrock. She says the team simply refers to it as the young citrus project. The objective is to update current recommendations for new plantings in Florida because they are out of date and need to consider HLB disease. “Our goal is to come up with some guidelines to help growers establish new plantings … using some of the tools that growers are already implementing that we have zero guidelines on,” Diepenbrock said.

Those tools are reflective mulch, individual protective covers and kaolin clay. Megan Dewdney and Evan Johnson are looking at pathology both above ground and below ground, respectively. Davie Kadyampakeni is tackling nutrition and irrigation in the trial, and Christopher Vincent is looking at overall tree growth. After one year of the research project, some interesting results are already emerging.

Diepenbrock said it’s a much-needed project that was spurred by grower questions. “We worked with them to see where their issues were, what their concerns were, what kind of other problems they had or noticed so we could keep an eye out for them,” she said. “It may be an issue that we can maybe solve in some manner. We’re trying to think of these things that are going to impact growers. They need to get a return on their investment to make it worth their time and money.”

Unrelated to the project, Rogers noted that the presentation videos from the Florida Citrus Growers’ Institute are now available online. He also reminded the industry to follow along with UF/IFAS on social media for National OJ Day on May 4. He said UF/IFAS will be interacting through various channels to promote the topic and industry. Finally, he urged growers to take advantage of the Tip of The Week segment on CitrusIndustry.com. The series has vital information for growers in an ever-changing environment.

Citrus Research and Education Center Director Michael Rogers begins the episode discussing several upcoming events for growers. On April 6, the Florida Citrus Growers’ Institute will return as a virtual event. Rogers says the presentations will be focused on pest management this year, and participants can register online. Two other major events later this year are scheduled to be in-person again. The Florida Citrus Show has been rescheduled from earlier this year to May 12-13, and the Citrus Expo will be Aug. 18-19. Rogers reports that the Citrus Expo planning meetings have gone well, and all things point to having as close to a ‘normal’ event as possible while maintaining COVID-19 safety precautions.

Nabil Killiny, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) associate professor, shares the latest findings from his team’s RNA interference (RNAI) research. He says they are using RNAI to attack the Asian citrus psyllid and limit HLB transmission from plant to plant. It is a three-pronged approach aimed at disrupting how the disease’s bacteria attaches to the insect, how well the insect flies and how well the insect can tolerate pesticides. Killiny says the RNAI work could break the pesticide resistance seen in Asian citrus psyllids and increase insect feeding, making applications more effective.

Davie Kadyampakeni, UF/IFAS assistant professor, concludes the episode with a few updates on soil and water management research. While some growers have tried deficit irrigation on HLB-infected trees, he says field tests have shown this practice significantly hurts the trees. Kadyampakeni is also taking an in-depth look at nutrient management. A project in its fourth year has identified three micronutrients that could be doubled, tripled, and in some cases even quadrupled, without toxicity issues. He says researchers have seen an increase in tree health and production with less fruit drop in some instances. Kadyampakeni’s team also is looking at nitrogen levels to update recommendations to modern spacing practices.

After more than a year in the making, the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) plans to add a new faculty member in citrus horticulture. Citrus Research and Education Center Director Michael Rogers talks about the position that was introduced on the podcast last year. The process was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic but has now been greenlighted by UF/IFAS. Rogers also notes several new meetings that have been planned for March, both virtual and in person. Topics to be covered include citrus irrigation, soil health and an in-person citrus under protective screen (CUPS) demonstration.

Manjul Dutt joins the podcast for another look into research on Australian finger limes. He says researchers noticed early on that these trees were much more tolerant to HLB disease than traditional citrus varieties. That’s why researchers are continuing to look at the possibility of finger limes as an alternative crop, but they also are trying to figure out all the ways the finger lime contributes to less HLB effects and disease transmission. Not only does the tree have high levels of compounds that may help tolerate the disease, says Dutt, it also has characteristics that may limit Asian citrus psyllid feeding on the plant. He is helping develop new cultivars that are crosses between conventional citrus and finger limes, and some look very promising.

Ute Albrecht highlights two projects in the podcast; one involves the new cultivars Dutt is helping to create. Albrecht will be field-testing the new cultivars, which are preselected varieties based on fruit quality. The research will determine how well they grow in Florida. The second project will aim to identify an all-systems approach to root health. Several current strategies will be combined with new approaches for a comprehensive recommendation for growers.

The Citrus Nutrient Management Program, more commonly known as the nutrition box program, is over a year old. Citrus Research and Education Center Director Michael Rogers, with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), begins this month’s episode of the podcast with an update on the nutrition box program. He said there is very valuable data that has come from the boxes, including identifying regional problems that growers are experiencing. Growers can still sign up for the 2021 program until Jan. 31. Rogers said the program can help growers maximize yields while helping researchers prioritize solutions for specific regions.

Christopher Vincent, UF/IFAS assistant professor of horticultural sciences, gives an update on shade work in the field. Citrus trees generally like shade, so his research is looking to determine the right amount of shade for HLB-infected trees. The work is proving beneficial with an increase in tree yield and overall health. In addition, a positive side effect is that shade can hinder the Asian citrus psyllid’s ability to move from tree to tree. Vincent also discusses some of the results from UF/IFAS antibiotic research examining foliar sprays as well as a new study attempting to increase the efficiency of sugar movement through citrus trees.

Lorenzo Rossi, UF/IFAS plant root biologist, closes the podcast with details on new research funded by a grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The project will test compounds in the field that may influence HLB. Rossi said the goal is to find a specific compound that battles the bacteria that causes the disease. The research is a collaboration between multiple agencies and the private sector. Rossi believes the inclusion of companies in the research may speed up the process of bringing a potential product to market for producers.

University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center Director Michael Rogers gives a field report on the harvesting of Hamlins. He shares information on the Flower Bud Induction Advisory and where growers can find that information, plus a list of upcoming webinars for producers. Even though the Florida Citrus Show has been postponed, Rogers says the UF/IFAS citrus team is looking forward to getting back to in-person events at some point and is thankful to the industry for its patience.

Artificial intelligence (AI) can be an overwhelming topic, but Sandra Guzman says it is easier to swallow when it helps growers. Guzman, an agricultural engineering assistant professor at the UF/IFAS Indian River Research and Education Center, has been working directly with growers to integrate the benefits of in-field technology. She describes systems growers are using to get all their information together and in real-time. Guzman also tells how growers can use AI to help maximize yields and stabilize production with variable weather.

Some holiday spirit, history, and gift-giving tips wrap up the December episode of the podcast. Ruth Borger, UF/IFAS communications specialist, discusses the rich history that citrus has with Christmas. Some people still get an orange in their stocking, and there is a reason for that. Borger details how the tradition has continued over the years and what meanings are behind different varieties that are gifted. She also has several ideas for citrus-related gifts as well as critical tips for the safest way to send fruit to family and friends.

Citrus Research and Education Center Director Michael Rogers begins the podcast with a discussion on research projects UF/IFAS scientists are playing critical roles in collaborative efforts. Projects include studying HLB-tolerant varieties involving finger limes, enhancing root health systematically, and investigating therapeutics and microbial products.

Amit Levy, UF/IFAS plant pathology assistant professor, then highlights the first of two new U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) grant projects. Levy will be looking more into the CLas bacterium that causes HLB. The bacteria clogs the phloem of the tree much like cholesterol in human veins. The new project aims to find out why that happens and how to counteract it.

Bryony Bonning, eminent scholar and professor of nematology and entomology, details the second of the two NIFA grants that UF/IFAS is leading. Her project is tackling the vector of HLB disease, the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP). The research will utilize Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) bacteria and RNA silencing. Bonning says the goal is to have the ACP ingest the deadly proteins Bt bacteria produce and possibly increase that feeding with gene silencing technology. The work hopes to add a critical tool to grower management of the disease by helping to control the vector.

Citrus Research and Education Center Director Michael Rogers details the benefits of recent news about the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) mapping the trifoliate orange genome. He says it’s a truly complete sequence that will allow researchers to use it as a template for future hybrid rootstock varieties.

Rogers adds that detailed information about the genome sequencing can be found on the revamped UF/IFAS Citrus Research website. He describes the site as a powerful one-stop-shop tool for growers to stay updated on industry research.

Another exciting announcement from UF/IFAS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture grant that food safety professor Michelle Danyluk and her team received to ‘prove the negative.’

Danyluk is working with researchers across the United States to put some hard data behind the lack of coronavirus transmission from food and food packaging. The Centers for Disease Control said early on in the pandemic that the virus likely could not be passed along to a consumer buying food at the store. Danyluk says the research will prove that scientifically and help relay that information to the general public with a new website.

Sting nematodes can be a big issue for growers, and the problem seems to have gotten worse over the last several years. The pest weakens the roots of the citrus tree, which is especially troublesome when growers are already dealing with HLB disease.

UF/IFAS nematology professor Larry Duncan says these small worms could be particularly problematic for younger trees when growers are replanting. His research is testing a new wave of nematicides, alongside some of the old ones, to see which are most effective.

Duncan’s team is also testing the non-host peanut plant in row middles. So far, the practice is acting as a cover crop and suppressing sting nematodes in row middles at an impressive rate.

Citrus Research and Education Center Director Michael Rogers starts the episode with the announcement that the University of Florida was ranked in the top 10 of U.S. News and World Report’s Top Public Schools list. Rogers describes how the list is put together, what it means to the university, and how vital students — especially postgraduate students — are to the university’s research.

Plant Pathology Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist Megan Dewdney gives an update on her citrus black spot research. She details findings from an ongoing project examining product effectiveness. The study tested 10 different tools to combat the pathogen. Dewdney also talks about updates to her section of the 2020-2021 Florida Citrus Production Guide. She says the authors continue to update the publication to modernize it and go through a rigorous process to include recommendations for growers.

Wrapping up the episode, Research Assistant Scientist Choaa El-Mohtar joins the show to talk about the system he developed to test naturally occurring compounds on citrus trees. Using a strain of the citrus tristeza virus (CTV), the technology can introduce things like peptides into trees to see how they will react. El-Mohtar says researchers have scanned many antimicrobial peptides in the system and have identified a few that help trees tolerate HLB. He adds that the CTV technology is close to being tested on a large scale at Southern Gardens Citrus and could be available to growers relatively soon.

Citrus Research and Education Center Director Michael Rogers starts the episode by announcing a redesign to the UF/IFAS Citrus Research website. The university listened to industry feedback on the organization and accessibility of the site. Rogers says the redesign makes it a one-stop-shop for growers with all of the information they need to know. He says the citrus team is looking at a lot of the new practices they are doing during the pandemic and plan on adopting some of them, such as video presentations, moving forward.

J. Scott Angle officially started as the UF/IFAS new vice president for agriculture and natural resources in mid-July. While he isn’t from Florida, Angle has a personal relationship with citrus and extensive experience in how research is funded and allocated. Starting a position during a global pandemic has admittedly been quite different for Angle. Still, he is focusing on meeting as much of the industry as possible and listening to the issues.

“My job is to make sure that we support all of the growers and those that work in the industry,” Angle said. “I wake up every morning to make sure that they remain profitable and able to do their job, grow, and expand their business.”

Angle has an impressive resume and has spent the last several years at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. There he oversaw $125 million of funding for projects related to huanglongbing disease and worked with the likes of Florida Citrus Mutual’s Mike Sparks, Larry Black, Tom Mitchell, and others. He believes research advances over the last five years are proof that the university is utilizing funding in the best way for growers, and that the UF/IFAS team will play a significant role in keeping the iconic citrus industry profitable for years to come.

July’s All in For Citrus podcast episode focuses on online educational opportunities for growers as in-person events continue to get canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Citrus Research and Education Center Director Michael Rogers begins the program with an update on the phased reopening of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS). Rogers says more researchers are being allowed to return to their laboratories in a scaled-back manner while adhering to social-distancing guidelines. He says it’s exciting to see some movement toward normalcy, but the health and safety of staff is the top priority. Faculty continue to move research projects forward, are providing new online educational opportunities, and remain available to growers when they have issues.

Tripti Vashisth, UF/IFAS assistant professor, describes how information normally presented at Citrus Expo will be made available to growers online. Vashisth was organizing the educational sessions prior to the cancellation of the in-person 2020 Citrus Expo. She says presenters are now in the process of recording their talks, which will be included in the virtual Citrus Expo debuting online Aug. 19-20. She previews some of the session topics and speakers on the agenda.

Citrus Expo is not the only digital education program UF/IFAS is developing. Five presentations from the 2020 Florida Citrus Growers’ Institute, which was canceled back in April, are now available online. Citrus Extension Agent Chris Oswalt says the presentations have been approved for continuing education units (CEUs). Growers can find the information and how to apply for the CEUs at the 2020 Florida Citrus Growers’ Institute webpage.

Citrus Research and Education Center Director Michael Rogers learned just hours before the recording of this episode that the University of Florida was moving forward with the state's Phase Three of reopening from coronavirus restrictions. He describes what that means for the citrus agents and discusses some of their tentative plans for the 2020 Citrus Expo that, as of now, is still happening.

Johnny Ferrarezi, assistant professor at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Indian River Research and Education Center, offers an update on the exciting Millennium Block research. The project looks at a variety of scion and rootstock combinations for grapefruit, tangerines and navel oranges. Although it’s still too early to publish data, Ferrarezi says he already sees a lot of differences in growth between the combinations.

UF/IFAS Assistant Professor Lauren Diepenbrock wraps up this episode with how she's helping growers start young trees off on their healthiest foot. Her research aims to make official recommendations for growers who are replanting trees in the face of widespread huanglongbing.

As always, Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC) Director Michael Rogers begins the podcast. He shares news about how operations with research both on and off campus can continue with a little less restriction. Rogers says the team will be abiding by social distancing rules but will continue with virtual education as a few new opportunities come online in the near future.

The Nutrition of Florida Citrus Trees, 3rd Edition is now available to growers. UF/IFAS Southwest Florida Research and Education Center Director Kelly Morgan gives an update on important new information in the fertilization guide, including official HLB recommendations. Morgan said growers have been asking for those additions for some time, and the citrus team is excited to have them included in the new edition.

CREC Associate Center Director Kirsten Pelz-Stelinski concludes this month’s episode with an update to her research that is targeting bacteria, both good and bad, in the body of the Asian citrus psyllid. She also discusses some unintended benefits of bactericide use in the industry. Her trials are showing a possible slowing of transmission between the pest and the tree.

Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC) Director Michael Rogers starts off the episode with on update on operations amid COVID-19 restrictions. The citrus team has transitioned to working remotely and continues to be available via telephone and internet. Researchers are still tending to projects in labs on a limited basis while adhering to social-distancing guidelines. Rogers details some of the upcoming digital information that will be available to growers.

It’s not the ending that Senior Vice President for Agriculture and Natural Resources Jack Payne thought he would have to his career, but staying home during this pandemic has allowed him to look back on his tenure at the University of Florida. Payne outlines how the industry has changed during his decade at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences helm. He also discusses some of the accomplishments of his team and he makes some predictions on what lies ahead.

As the citrus industry says goodbye to Payne, it also says hello to a new citrus Extension agent. Ajia Paolillo brings her enthusiasm to growers in DeSoto, Hardee and Manatee counties. Paolillo did not grow up in agriculture, but she is no stranger to the citrus industry. She worked for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Division of Plant Industry as a citrus nursery Inspector. She also spent time in the CREC lab studying rootstocks. Paolillo talks about how she hopes to take what she learned from some well-known citrus Extension agents and become a trusted source for growers, starting with getting to know the producers in her counties.

CREC Center Director Michael Rogers starts the episode with the impacts COVID-19 is having on the citrus research team and how it is operating under the fluid situation. He said the center is still working on research while being closed to the public. Grower support will continue via online and telephone avenues. Rogers suggests all citrus growers subscribe to the UF/IFAS Citrus Team Newsletter that will be one of the channels used to distribute research findings. It's important to note this interview was recorded on March 20. Find the latest information on operations at the UF/IFAS and CREC websites. 

Lorenzo Rossi, UF/IFAS assistant professor, focuses on root health research, including how root traits affect nutrient uptake. He discusses work on new nutritional guidelines, explaining that citrus nutrient requirements are different than when guidelines were formulated prior to HLB. Rossi also talks about promising research with oak mulch and studies on other mulches, compost and cover crops.

Wrapping up this episode, Ramdas Kanissery, UF/IFAS assistant professor, gives the latest updates on his weed research. Kanissery explains what herbicide synergy is and how it helps growers maximize applications and reduce tolerance. He also discusses research that is improving the safety of production practices a well as potential impacts weeds have in a grove.

Citrus Research and Education Center Director Michael Rogers gives an update on the Citrus Nutrition Box Program that started last fall, including the individualized nutrition recommendations being made by University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) experts. Rogers also shares the latest information on the search for a new UF/IFAS vice president, including dates in March when the candidates will meet with the industry. Finally, he announces a new citrus Extension agent.

UF/IFAS postharvest horticulturist Mark Ritenour addresses several fresh fruit issues, starting with changes in maximum residue limit requirements for fresh citrus markets. One new research project he discusses is an effort to develop methods to reduce postharvest decay. He also speaks about an electronic grading unit that will measure numerous fruit quality parameters. Researchers want to determine the unit's ability to separate unmarketable fruit – including that affected by HLB – from healthy fruit.

Wrapping up the episode, entomologist Lukasz Stelinski says that even with HLB infection in Florida at virtually 100 percent, reducing the psyllids that spread the disease promotes plant health and yield. He discusses the importance of psyllid spray timing as well as rotating insecticide modes of action. Biological control of psyllids is also addressed.

Senior Correspondent-at-Large Ernie Neff starts the show with Michael Rogers, director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center. Rogers discusses communication efforts, including the All In For Citrus Podcast and steps UF/IFAS is taking to further improve its communications with growers. He also provides an update on the search for a new UF/IFAS vice president and shares details on upcoming citrus events.

Then, Extension economist Ariel Singerman speaks on a recent article he wrote on the subject of how much growers can afford to spend on the caretaking of processed orange groves. The article addresses the grove management decisions growers must make in the face of current orange price declines. It points out that an average grower would need to cut back significantly on caretaking expenses just to break even.

Next, plant pathologist Evan Johnson discusses the damage that HLB inflicts on citrus tree roots and steps growers can take to cope with the problem. Chief among the root health management practices are “spoon-feeding” of nutrients and irrigation. The more frequent applications allow trees to make better use of those inputs. Johnson says most growers he knows have adopted the spoon-feeding practice, and some have seen increased root mass.

Wrapping up the show, geneticist and plant breeder Jude Grosser believes higher quality orange juice, coming from higher quality oranges, is needed to combat falling juice sales. He points out that growers also need oranges that are better able to produce good juice fruit in the face of HLB. Grosser talks about new orange varieties that have been developed by UF/IFAS to accomplish those goals. He and fellow breeders have focused on improving juice quality throughout the entire season.

Numerous Florida citrus growers have no contracts and no offers, or very low offers, for their juice oranges this season. University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center Director Michael Rogers discusses the difficult decisions facing those growers and how they might best decide to allocate money for grove management practices. Nutrient and water management should be top priorities, he says.

Indian River Research and Education Center horticulturist Johnny Ferrarezi joins the podcast to discuss his recent trip to Brazil. Even though the situations in Florida and Brazil are very different, he says there is a lot to take away from the Brazilian citrus industry's management practices.

Keeping trees as healthy as possible is key to surviving HLB disease. Sarah Strauss, UF/IFAS soil microbiologist, gives an update on her research into cover crops. Strauss and other researchers are working on trying to identify varieties that make the best cover crop mixes for growers. She also talks about new funding just announced to start a study looking into compost.

Multi-county citrus Extension agent Chris Oswalt discusses the long-running Winter Weather Watch program that provides participating growers with phone access to localized weather forecasts. The watch is available in the west, central and southwest regions of Florida. Oswalt says many growers use information from the watch in conjunction with information from the Florida Automated Weather Network.

Citrus Research and Education Center Director Michael Rogers tells how the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) helped a Washington Post reporter write a well-balanced article about the Florida citrus industry and HLB. Rogers points out that the reporter painted a pretty dire picture of the Florida citrus industry as a result of HLB, but also described some research advances.

UF/IFAS pathologist Ozgur Batuman reviews his research that is looking to attack the Asian citrus psyllid from the inside out. Batuman is excited about five viruses he and others have found and isolated in the gut of psyllids in Florida. He hopes these viruses can be manipulated to negatively impact the function of the host and possibly even kill the psyllid.

UF/IFAS horticulturist Tripti Vashisth discusses the success of a Citrus Nutrition Management Program that distributed nutrition sampling kits to approximately 110 growers this fall. The kits provide everything growers need to collect leaf and soil samples for a year. The samples help growers ensure their nutrition programs are working.

Yiannis Ampatzidis, UF/IFAS assistant professor, shares the latest information on his high-tech tool for growers to monitor groves. His research uses drones to save time and money by monitoring tree size and counting gaps in rows. This information is needed for insurance reasons, and Ampatzidis hopes it can soon save the grower even more money by incorporating variable-spray technology.

Listen to the latest episode of the All In For Citrus Podcast.

First, Michael Rogers, director of the Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC) at Lake Alfred, discusses the new Florida Citrus Production Guide, tree planting decisions, fruit displays and the planned hiring of a new horticulturist at the CREC. The new horticulturist will work on late-stage field evaluations of new rootstocks and scion varieties.

Next, Citrus Horticulturalist Tripti Vashisth introduces listeners to a new nutrition starter kit. She explains what is inside the kit as well as where growers can pick up their own.

Kelly Morgan, Southwest Florida Research and Education Center director is also on the program this month. He discusses the new grad student housing building that recently broke ground in Immokalee.

Finally, Citrus Breeder Fred Gmitter discusses some exciting advancements coming out of the citrus breeding program, including what they're doing to create a new grapefruit variety. He also breaks down the new Mandarin variety, Marathon.

First, Michael Rogers, director of the Citrus Research and Education Center, summarizes the good grower responses that UF/IFAS has received regarding the seminar program at Citrus Expo. He discusses the new Hands-on session that attracted a full house on the second day of Expo. “They (growers) thought it was very worthwhile to stick around and participate,” he says. Finally, Rogers summarizes a new program he introduced at Expo, in which UF/IFAS will fund some nutrition sampling to encourage growers to conduct soil and leaf samples.

Then, Multi-County Citrus Extension Agent Mongi Zekri discusses the effectiveness of tree covers on young trees in the fight against citrus greening. Zekri talks about the material of the tree cover, as well as if he thinks it's worth the extra cost for growers.

Lastly, Ute Albrecht, a citrus physiologist at the UF/IFAS Southwest Florida Research and Education Center, gives an in-depth look to her work with rootstocks. She talks about what rootstocks are and why growers should keep an eye on this work. She also goes over the presentation she gave at the recent Citrus Expo. If you could not make it to her presentation at Expo, listen to the August program to get up-to-date.

Michael Rogers, director of the Citrus Research and Education Center, discusses new opportunities for growers to learn in interactions with researchers at Citrus Expo on Thursday afternoon, Aug. 15. He discusses numerous topics that will be addressed at each of several stations where growers will participate in “hands-on” activities. At the same time, researchers at round tables will talk with growers in “meet the specialist” sessions, he says.

Citrus Expo educational seminars are addressed by horticulturist Tripti Vashisth, who is organizing the Aug. 14-15 citrus seminars. She lists all the presentations that will be made and reports in-depth on a talk she’ll make Aug. 14 regarding fruit drop. She has found that fruit drop is heavily related to fruit size and says growers who improve fruit size with good irrigation and nutrition can reduce drop.

Entomologist Lauren Diepenbrock provides a thorough update on the lebbeck mealybug, the latest citrus pest found in Highlands County groves in June. She discusses the potential heavy damage this pest can cause, immediate steps growers can take to reduce its spread, and possible long-term control measures. She tells who growers should contact if they suspect they have the lebbeck mealybug in their groves.

Be sure to register for the 2019 Citrus Expo, happening Aug. 15-16 at the Lee Civic Center in North Fort Myers, FL. All pre-registered growers will automatically be entered to win a John Deere gun safe courtesy of Everglades Equipment Group. The seminar schedule will be coming soon. Visit CitruExpo.net for more information or to register.

First, Michael Rogers focuses on a recent Florida visit by some USDA administrators who make the decisions on how millions of dollars in Farm Bill citrus research money are allocated. He explains that the visit was very valuable for the National Institute of Food and Agriculture officials because they got to learn what research growers need, and what research is already being conducted.

Following that, Kelly Morgan, Southwest Florida Research and Education Center (SWFREC) director, gives listeners an update on citrus research happening at the center. Morgan was a guest on the first All In for Citrus Podcast in 2018 where he laid the framework of what was to come for the center in 2019, and this month he gives a break down on how those projects are going so far.

Lastly, Ozgur Batuman, assistant professor of citrus pathology at SWFREC, talks about a project he's been working on since he came on the SWFREC staff in 2016. The project revolves around creating a robotic arm that can help citrus growers apply chemicals in their groves. He discusses the beginnings of the project and how it may be a game changer in growers' production systems.

A reminder that grower registration for the 2019 Citrus Expo is now open! The Citrus Expo will be held August 14-15 at the Lee civic center in North Fort Myers, Florida. All registered growers will automatically be entered to win a John Deere gun safe courtesy of Everglades Equipment Group. Visit CitrusExpo.net to register and find more information.

Following that, listeners will hear from Scott Angle, director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Angle took his seat as director in October 2018, and one of his first stops was to Florida. During the interview, conducted by the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences communications team, he discusses some of the things he saw and his hopes for the future.

Lastly, Arnold Schumann, professor of soil science at the Citrus Research and Education Center, reports on his 5 years of research into citrus under protective screen (CUPS) for fresh fruit. He says CUPS, used to exclude the psyllids that spread HLB, requires a different production system than conventional outdoor growing systems but offers excellent yield and fruit quality. Schumann discusses the startup and ongoing production costs for CUPS, and his optimism that growers can be profitable with CUPS.

A reminder that pre-registration for the 2019 Citrus Expo opens on June 1. All pre-registered growers will automatically be entered to win a John Deere gun safe courtesy of Everglades Equipment Group. Join AgNet Media on August 14-15 at the Lee Civic Center in North Fort Myers, Florida for another great gathering of citrus leaders.

Following his message, All In for Citrus Host Abbey Taylor and Southeast AgNet’s Ernie Neff sit down with three citrus researchers from the CREC, Tripti Vashisth, Lauren Diepenbrock and Megan Dewdney. This month, Taylor and Neff complete a roundtable interview with the three scientists as they recap findings from a recent citrus conference in California. They reported these findings at the Citrus Growers Institute.

First, Michael Rogers, center director of the University of Florida's (UF) Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC), discusses the upcoming Citrus Grower's Institute. He discusses the planned seminar program, which is jam-packed with citrus greening management methods. Also included in the program is presentations regarding citrus weed management and a regulatory update. The Citrus Grower's Institute will take place on April 2 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the South Florida State College's Alan Jay Wildstein Center for Performing Arts in Avon Park. Interested attendees can register here.

Then, listeners will hear from Amir Rezazadeh, a new citrus multi-county Extension agent with UF. Rezazadeh introduces himself to growers, discussing his background and his goals in his new position.

Following Rezazadeh will be Yu Wang, an assistant professor at the UF CREC. Wang's job focuses on citrus flavor and consumer preferences for citrus flavor. She goes over how she gathers consumer likes and dislikes, then how she communicates her findings to the research community. She also discusses juice quality and how citrus greening has played a role in that.

Finally, March's podcast wraps up with Rhuanito "Johnny" Ferrarezi, an assistant professor of citrus horticulture at the UF Indian River Research and Education Center. He gives listeners updates on a couple of projects he has been working on. First, he discusses his grapefruit variety trials and gives some updates on recent findings. Then, he talks about a continuing project on Citrus Under Protective Screens or CUPS.