Challenges Using Oxalic Acid Against Summer Varroa Mite Infestations for Panhandle Beekeepers
One the greatest threats to the western honey bee, Apis mellifera Linnaeus, is a mite species known as Varroa destructor. Unfortunately, the Florida Panhandle is within the range of this hive devastating pest. Oxalic acid treatment has been shown to work well against...
Leptospirosis in Cattle: Why You Should Know More About It?
Bruna A. Feliciano; Beatriz S. Nemoto; Ameer A. Megahed; Alireza R. Shahraki; Viviani Gomes; João Bittar, UF/IFAS Beef Cattle Extension Veterinarian Leptospirosis (aka Lepto) is a disease caused by a spirochete bacterium belonging to the genus Leptospira and...
Cotton Pest Update: Stink Bugs and New Invasive Cotton Pest – Two-Spotted Cotton Leafhopper, Moving into Cotton
Cotton across the Panhandle is at various stages of development, from early vegetative, to squaring, to bloom. Insect pest activity has been relatively light so far, but it appears to be increasing; stink bugs and plant bugs are moving into fields. Early planted...
Summer Mineral Consumption for Cattle on Pasture
Brett Capra, University of Florida, Senior in Animal Sciences & UF/IFAS Extension Intern with Kalyn Waters, UF/IFAS Extension Holmes County One of the issues that can handicap production in the summer months is the struggle to get cattle to consistently consume...
Panhandle Cotton Acres Are Down in 2025– Here’s the Reason
If you’ve spent much time at all paying attention to what’s growing in Panhandle crop fields, you may have noticed a decrease in planted cotton acres. In normal years, the crop acreage in our area is split roughly evenly between cotton and peanuts, with soybean and...
June 2025 Weather Summary and Three-Month Outlook
Rainfall For many years June was a wet summer month, but lately has been more variable. June 2025 rainfall was not uniform in the Panhandle with some counties above average and many slightly below average. The map above to the left shows the variation with counties...
June 2025 Florida Cattle Market Update
The Hot Topic of Tight Supplies Going into Summer In the first half of 2025, non-fed beef production has been a "hot topic" as we watch for signs of reduced cow culling. Non-fed beef production is down over 13% so far in 2025 compared to 2024. With strong demand for...
Hens in the Heat
Jewelynn Owens, a Lead for America Fellow, hosted in the UF/IFAS Extension Holmes County Office We are entering the Dog Days of summer, and everyone is HOT, including your chickens! On the hot summer days, chickens typically slow down laying eggs because they're now...
UF/IFAS 2025 Top Rancher Challenge Showcases Youth and Adult Talent
Marcelo Wallau, Hannah Baker, Ashley Kanobroski For the past four years, the University of Florida/IFAS Forage and Livestock Extension teams have been challenging the attendees of the Florida Cattlemen’s Annual Convention to test their knowledge in cattle and forage...
Cotton Marketing News: Acreage Numbers are a Surprise – What Now?
Don Shurley, UGA Emeritus Cotton Economist Back in March, farmers said they intended to plant 9.87 million acres of cotton this year. If realized, that would be an 11.8% reduction from last year. Prices have not improved since then and expectations were that acres...