Water Source Recommendations for Food Safety

Water Source Recommendations for Food Safety

Supplemental water is necessary for good crop yields in fruit and vegetable production. Water quality is equally as important as water quantity when it comes to fruit and vegetable production. Unfortunately, water can transport harmful microorganisms from adjacent...
Grass Carp – A Biological Control to Manage Pond Weeds

Grass Carp – A Biological Control to Manage Pond Weeds

Florida has hundreds of aquatic plant species, and they are an often-overlooked feature of Florida’s landscape.  Overlooked that is, until the growth of non-native (even some native) species interferes with use of our waters.  Some aquatic plant species can become...
Dry Weather has not deterred the Dragons among Us

Dry Weather has not deterred the Dragons among Us

During a pond visit to the dry northern part of Escambia County, something caught my eye floating along the margins of the pond. There, on the shore, perched on a blade of grass, was an empty dragonfly exoskeleton and a newly emerged adult dragonfly (see image...
Utilizing Compost to Boost Crop Productivity

Utilizing Compost to Boost Crop Productivity

International Compost Awareness Week is May 6-12 this year. This educational initiative, promoted by the Composting Council Research and Education Foundation, was started in Canada in 1995, and has continued to grow in popularity as communities, businesses,...
Developing a “Stress Breathalyzer” for Peanuts

Developing a “Stress Breathalyzer” for Peanuts

Yu-Chien Tseng, Brendan Zurweller and Diane Rowland, UF/IFAS Agronomy Department Growers typically use indirect methods to sense crop stress, such as soil moisture sensors to predict crop drought stress or models to predict disease risk. Directly monitoring the stress...
Still Need the Mandatory Dicamba Resistant Crop Training?

Still Need the Mandatory Dicamba Resistant Crop Training?

Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registered new dicamba herbicide product formulations for making applications to dicamba tolerant cotton and soybean crops. As a result, many states were overwhelmed with drift complaints regarding sensitive crops....