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Weed Control

Management Practices for Weeds on Your Blueberry Operation

The most important method of weed control is preventing current weeds in your field from developing seeds. Some common weed species in blueberry can produce more than 100,000 seeds per plant and can survive in the soil profile for 5 to 15 years. Preemergence herbicides can provide residual weed control for many weeks or months. But the frequent summer rainfall events may move the preemergence herbicide below the area of greatest control. So blueberry growers will rely on postemergence herbicides when they experience a reduction in weed control from preemergence herbicides.

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Despite Crop Damage, Florida Blueberry Growers Association Predicting A Good Year For Blueberries

Contact: Brittany H. Lee, President, Florida Blueberry Growers Association, 352-505-8878

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PRESIDENT’S LETTER: We Continue to Face Our Challenges Head-On

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Summer Irrigation of Florida Blueberries

Research on Most Effective Way to Keep Your Blueberries Hydrated

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Growers Thoughts: Florida Blueberry 2018 Season Recap

Florida blueberry growers produce more berries this year, despite pollination problems, gall midge and Hurricane Irma.

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Time to Monitor for Blueberry Gall Midge

Just a reminder to blueberry growers that it is time to monitor for the presence of adult blueberry gall midge on your farms. Adults are typically active beginning in November, with a peak in January and February in central and south-central Florida, and a peak in February and March in north-central Florida. Emergence is typically triggered by cool days followed by warm days. It is thought that adult males emerge approximately two weeks before the emergence of adult females. Monitoring can be done using either a bucket trap placed on the ground below the plant canopy (3-5 per acre) or a clear sticky panel trap hung in the lower part of the plant canopy (1-3 per acre) (see Oscar Liburd gall midge bulletin attached). Spraying with recommended insecticides should begin when two or more adults are found in a trap.

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Time to Monitor for Blueberry Gall Midge

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2016 Challenges Harvesting: Lessons Learned from the Effects of Weather on the Season

 

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Marketing Update: USHBC Efforts to Increase Consumer Demand

Positively Affecting the Blueberry Industry with ‘Little Changes’ Campaign

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Ag Perspective on the 2016 Legislative Session

bildeQ&A with Bill Braswell on Recent Bills Past

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Pollinator Workshop Q&A

With Jeanette Klopchin, Pollinator Protection Specialist, Division of Agricultural Environmental Services, FDACS

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Spring Irrigation of Florida Blueberries

Avoiding Water Stress During the Fruit Development Period

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Looking for Answers: Crop Insurance and the Florida Blueberry Market

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Financial Analysis After Harvest: Assessing Current Status, Improving Cash Flow, and Protecting Future Earnings

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Financial insight from the FAFMC

<strong>Highlights and risk management strategies from the 2016 Florida Agriculture Financial Management Conference</strong>

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Tracking winter chill accumulation

<strong>Last year’s chill hours and tracking temperatures for 2016-17 winter </strong>

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Editor’s Last Word: Focusing on the solutions

WHEN I THINK of the recent challenges growers have faced, I’m reminded of a quote, which I’m sure many of you have heard: “The farmer has to be an optimist or he wouldn’t still be a farmer.” Made memorable by Will Rogers, this quote rings true for today’s growers as much as it did in his era (if not more).

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Publisher’s Interlude: A survey to take note of

U.S. CONSUMERS prefer Florida blueberries above all others, and a new online survey conducted by the UF/IFAS Center for Public Issues Education (PIE) in Agriculture and Natural Resources proves it. The study, funded by a Specialty Crop Block Grant from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, surveyed consumers in 31 U.S. states about their preference for buying blueberries in the grocery store. The survey showed that consumers preferred blueberries from Florida over berries from any other top 10 blueberry-producing state. However, the valuable information from the survey doesn’t end there. <!--more-->

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Grower 411: Study shows opportunities for growers

<strong>Industry can generate more consumer demand for blueberries through agritourism and health benefit awareness, UF report states</strong>

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Crop insurance: Let’s take a second look

<strong>Where are we now with blueberry crop insurance and the Florida blueberry market?</strong>

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