The Week in Florida Agriculture
June 30 - July 6, 2008
Peanut pegging is 53 percent complete, compared with 37 percent this time last year and 55 percent for the five-year average. Peanut condition is rated 29 percent fair, 52 percent good, and 19 percent excellent. Vegetables: Vegetable movement has slowed for most areas. Watermelon, tomatoes, and okra are being marketed. Seafood: Effective July 13, 2008, the commercial harvest of striped or black mullet will be permitted on weekends. Drought Update: Rainfall amounts ranged from traces to more than 6 inches across the state. Santa Rosa County received 2 to 4 inches along with many areas of the southern Peninsula. Highlands, Collier, and St. Lucie counties all received between 4 to 6 inches. Fort Pierce and Sebring both had over 6.5 inches for the week. Other weekly totals included over 4 inches in Immokalee and over 3 inches in Ona. Afternoon thunderstorms benefited pastures and rangeland in St. Johns County. Most pasture in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties continues to be in poor condition due to dry weather earlier in the year. Citrus: Overall, the hot and wet weather has assisted in deep soakings and moist soil which is beneficial to the growth of foliage and new fruit. Next year’s fruit is progressing well, with oranges about golfball size and grapefruit up to baseball size. Production practices are on schedule in all areas and include heavy summer spraying and Psyllids control. The harvest is winding down, with a few Valencias remaining mostly in southern areas. Processing is expected to last about one more week. Small amounts of fresh-squeezed juice will continue into August. Grapefruit processing is essentially over. Livestock and Pastures: In the Panhandle and northern areas, pasture condition is poor to excellent. Most cattle are in fair to excellent condition. Pasture in the central areas is poor to excellent. The condition of the cattle is poor to excellent. In the southwestern areas, pasture and range are in poor to excellent condition. The cattle condition is poor to good. Statewide, the cattle condition is mainly in good condition.
