Category: Florida Agriculture

Looking for ways to help save on your household water bill? Wondering how often to irrigate the lawn? Perhaps you are looking at the use of technologies that will help you gauge when and how often to irrigate. A team of University of Florida researchers…

Read More UF/IFAS Scientists Launch Statewide Landscape Water Use Survey To Enhance Water Conservation Efforts

Florida had a wetter winter than last year, but state officials are advising people to prepare for drier conditions that will increase the chances of wildfires. The Division of Emergency Management lists the current threat of wildfires across the state as “low,” but Agriculture Commissioner…

Read More Florida Ag Commissioner Urges Wildfire Preparations

A new study shows seafood food loss and waste in the United States is approximately 22.7%, a drastic decrease from previous estimates of between 43% and 47%. The study, conducted in part by researchers from the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences…

Read More New Study Shows Seafood Waste Less Profound Than Previously Thought

A team of UF/IFAS and USGS scientists are on the search for pythons, employing new tactics and equipment in the next phase of a large-scale python telemetry scout project launched last year. The goal of the project is to study Burmese python biology and movement…

Read More What’s Next For UF/IFAS Scientists On The Removal Of Burmese Pythons From The Florida Everglades?

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson highlighted Wednesday the Florida Forest Service’s record-breaking 2023–2024 controlled fire season as a means of preventing and lessening catastrophic wildfires in the state. The Florida Forest Service has treated 164,915 acres of state woods with controlled fire in the current…

Read More Florida Ag Commissioner Highlights Record-Setting Prescribed Fire Season

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state Cabinet on Tuesday will consider a $122 million proposal to buy agricultural land in Southwest Florida and allow current owners to lease and manage the property. The purchase, which is tied to a statewide wildlife corridor, is among…

Read More $122M Florida Agricultural Land Deal Teed Up

A new University of Florida-developed web-based tool will help growers reduce risks that come with climate variability. It’s called the “climate indicators tool,” the newest addition to AgroClimate, a web-based platform designed 15 years ago by Clyde Fraisse, a UF/IFAS professor of agricultural and biological…

Read More University Of Florida-Developed Web-Based Tool Will Help Growers Reduce Climate Variability Risks

With the recent formalization of rural land easements on Adams Ranch and Buck Island Ranch, which were previously authorized by the Governor and Cabinet, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson announced Monday that the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program has successfully safeguarded in excess…

Read More Florida Ag Commissioner Simpson Announces Preservation Of Over 100,000 Acres Of Agricultural Lands

Florida’s agriculture industry hopes a newly passed bill that would limit local regulations on farmworker housing will bolster efforts to bring in more non-immigrant foreign workers. The bill (SB 1082), which lawmakers unanimously passed, would prevent cities and counties from taking steps to “inhibit” construction…

Read More Bill Could Clear Way For Farmworker Housing

Florida residents seeking a dose of luck this St. Patrick’s Day likely won’t find it among the weeds in their backyards. Although oxalis stricta, a woodsorrel found throughout the state year-round, closely resembles the shamrock, a colloquial name for clover, the two plants are not…

Read More ‘False Shamrock’ More Likely To Herald Headaches Than Luck