The Week in Florida Agriculture
July 6-12, 2009
Watermelon harvest is well under way. Peanut pegging continues with 55 percent complete, compared to 59 percent this time last year. Peanut condition is rated 2 percent poor, 28 percent fair, 48 percent good, and 22 percent excellent. Corn and peanut crops are growing well. Some hay fields are receiving a second cutting. Recent rains helped improve the hay crop. Peanuts pegging is nearly complete. Corn growth continues. Late watermelons and peas are being harvested. Soil moisture condition is adequate in all areas. Preparations for fall crop are under way with growers laying plastic row liners. Growers are preparing for the caladium festival. Heat and moisture are causing fungal diseases for vegetable crops. Nurseries continue to struggle with soggy conditions left by Tropical Storm Fay. Sweet potato harvest is in progress. Seafood: Yellowfin tuna, flounder, kink mackerel and oysters are plentiful. Fruits and Vegetables: Vegetable harvest is concluding. Mango harvest has concluding. Papayas are being planted. Longans and avocados are being marketed. Okra is being marketed. Livestock and Pastures: In the Panhandle and northern areas, pasture condition ranges from very poor due to drought to mostly good to excellent. Most pasture grass received rain recently and the condition has significantly improved. Cattle condition correspondingly improved due to better pastures. In the central areas, range and pasture are fair to excellent, with most in good condition. Pasture condition improved due to rain. Some pastures in low areas are very wet. In the southwest, pasture is mostly good; however, some locations suffer from drought while other low-lying areas are nearly flooded. The condition of the cattle is very poor to excellent with most in good condition. Large numbers of flies and mosquitoes are bothering livestock. Statewide, cattle condition is very poor to excellent with most good. CITRUS: Typical summer weather continued throughout the citrus-producing region. Temperatures were very warm again, with several afternoon and evening rain showers across the center of the state. Highs reached the low to mid-90s in all monitored counties. The most rainfall recorded was in the northern citrus-producing region at just over 3 inches, followed by the central region at one and one-half to 2 inches of rainfall. Harvest of last season’s fruit is complete. Growers are focusing their attention on next season’s crop through fertilizations, nutritional spraying, and hedging. Most growers combated the citrus psyllid that causes greening by using both aerial and ground spraying. Some growers with heavy concentrations of greening chose to treat the groves or bulldoze individual trees, while others bulldozed entire blocks. Overall, trees and fruit made good progress in well-tended groves.
