Florida is a large multi-climate state so our widely dispersed Blueberry growers experience quite different growing conditions. One should not generalize how any single farm’s growing season progressed to that of most other farms. However, at Frogmore, our operation in Central Florida, it’s been a bit of a tough growing season so far. June started out hot and dry and stayed that way on into July. To keep our initial leaf flushes going, we had to employ extraordinary effort to protect tender leaves and stay on schedule. Then the rains came with only sporadic respite up till now in mid-September. We have rich soils undergirded by impervious clay, so although it grows berries well, it stays wet with ponding water that retreats ever so slowly. In seasons like this I envy the growers whose sandy soil seems to suck excess water away in a day or two.
Constantly running tractors up and down our wet middles interrupted by afternoon rains have set back our efforts to suppress the tenacious assault of chilli thrips. It seems that some of the past methods of control are faltering this year, however it’s hard for any crop sprays to work if heavy afternoon downpours cancel our plans or wash away what we just put out at great expense. We worked hard to have large, healthy leaves to feed the buds this fall for a bumper crop next spring. We’ve begun ranking varieties particularly susceptible to thrips as no longer candidates for future plantings. Not surprisingly, we do find some varieties are quite resistant so there is hope breeders will be key to solving this serious problem many Florida growers battle.
Thankfully we’re finally moving into fall, and just like all other Florida blueberry growers, we’re working hard to finish off our crop as growth slows down. All seasons are important for growing blueberries, but fall is critical for conditioning blueberry buds for a large healthy harvest. How we manage our crop now will determine our success at growing great tasting Florida blueberries — the high-quality, long-lasting fruit American consumers are reaching for more and more.
As fall arrives, so does our most important Florida blueberry gathering. On October 24 the FBGA Fall Meeting and Short Course convenes in Lakeland at the Bonnet Springs Park venue. I am really looking forward to getting together face-to-face with my grower counterparts, the experts of IFAS and our industry suppliers that help each of us solve knotty problems and make progress as growers and ag businesses.
You really must come for the learning you need and the relationships you’ll build. It’s awfully hard to grow a successful business in a global market by going it alone. Don’t miss out on the knowledge of research freely given, the experience of fellow growers and the business advice of industry professionals.
As always, the keystone of our conference is teaching how to better grow blueberries. Experts will cover topics such as plant nutrition, Florida blueberry weed management, important pest research and technology advances. We’ve included content to keep you up to date on government and regulatory happenings that will have a profound impact on your business over the next few years. And we’ve brought some viewpoints on the future of blueberry marketing in America, what changes are already happening and what we as growers will have to deal with to assure our continued success.
Oh, and don’t miss out on our second Hall of Fame Banquet on Wednesday night, the evening before our conference and trade show. We will be honoring three industry leaders who have been instrumental in establishing the Florida blueberry industry. I remember well our first such honoree banquet held five years ago. Not only did we learn more about our roots as an industry, but we also broke bread with many of our industry cohorts and met many of their family members in an engaging social atmosphere. It is well worth your time to join in and be part of our industry legacy.
Leonard Park,
President of Florida Blueberry Association