Spring Issue, 2007

Editor: Jeff Williamson

Officers: Donna Miller (president), Bill Braswell (vice president), Sheri Brothers (secretary and treasurer), Jeff Williamson (educational program director and newsletter editor).

Board of Directors: Jerry Mixon, Jr., Jack Green, Bill Brasswell, Alto Straughn, Lee Cobb, Chad Dumke, and Paul Lyrene.

Disclaimer :The information in this newsletter was selected with good intentions by the editor. It does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editor, the Florida Blueberry Growers' Association or the Association Directors. The reader should not assume that the information presented in the newsletter is being recommended for his or her farm. Especially where pesticides or growth regulators are mentioned, be sure to follow their labels exactly. If you have comments, corrections, or suggestions regarding the newsletter, please write to the editor.

Fall Blueberry Short Course and Field Day
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Gulf Coast Research and Education Center – Balm
14625 CR 672, Wimauma, FL

8:00 a.m. Late Registration (visit with vendors) - late registration at the door is $25 per person and does not guarantee a meal. See enclosed pre-registration form for early registration rate.

9:00 a.m.  Welcome – Dr. John E. Rechcigl, center director, Gulf Coast Research and Education Center – Balm, Wimauma, FL.

9:10 a.m. IFAS blueberry research and education programs: Striving for a better industry – Dr. Daniel J. Cantliffe, professor and chair, Horticultural Sciences Department, IFAS, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.       

9:20  .m.  The F.A.R.M.S. program: What is it and how can it help? Ms. Carole Estes, professional geologist and project manager, SWFWMD, Sarasota, FL.  

9:40 a.m. Botryosphaeria stem blight research in Florida – Dr. Phil Harmon, extension plant pathologist, Dept. of Plant Pathology, IFAS, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.   

10:00 a.m. Occurrence of Chilean thrips and flea beetles in Florida blueberries – Dr. Oscar Liburd, Dept. of Entomology and Nematology, IFAS, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.  

10:20 a.m. Break – visit with vendors.

10:40 a.m. Overview of freeze protection principles and practices – Dr. Paul Lyrene, blueberry breeder, Horticultural Sciences Dept., IFAS, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.          

11:00 a.m. Freeze protection research at the University of Florida – Michael Selover, graduate student, Agricultural and Biological Engineering Dept. IFAS., University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.

11:20 a.m. Block grant funding for specialty crops in Florida – Mr. Alto Straughn, blueberry grower, Straughn Farms, Waldo, FL. 

11:35 a.m. FBGA Business Meeting – Ms. Donna Miller, FBGA president, presiding.

12:00 a.m. Lunch - visit with vendors.   

1:00 p.m. Dormex update – Dr. Jeff Williamson, extension horticulturist, Horticultural Sciences Dept., IFAS, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.  

1:20 p.m. Update on USHBC activities – Mr. Ken Patterson, Island Grove Ag. Products, Island Grove, FL.  

1:35 p.m. Observations and thoughts on new blueberry cultivars -        Panel discussion.

1:55 p.m. Depart for tour of Clear Springs Blueberry Farm (directions provided).

Information about the short course -

Registration - Enclosed, please find a pre-registration form for the Fall Blueberry Short Course. This form must be returned postmarked by October 28 to guarantee your meal and to receive the early registration rate of $12.00 per person for FBGA members and $25.00 per person for non-members. Note that FBGA membership is on a per farm bases. Being a FBGA member allows you and any employee or family member associated with your blueberry operation to attend FBGA meetings at the discounted membership rate of $12.00 per person. Your pre-registration includes the morning short course, lunch, and an afternoon tour. Please note that the registration fee does not cover your FBGA dues which are due Jan. 1 of each year.

Attention vendors - Booth space is still available for the FBGA Fall Short Course and Field Day. Contact Ms. Sheri Brothers for further information (352) 4815558.  

Your Membership Status - If the date in parenthesis on the address label for this newsletter is 2008 or later then you are paid for the current year. If the date is 2007 or less, you will need to renew your membership to continue receiving this newsletter.

Letter from the President

Greetings,
After a very wet summer, fall has finally arrived!  Keeping to a preventative spray program proved a challenge for me.  A reminder to those new to this industry:  to maximize potential yield, your blueberry bushes need their leaves until December.

Board member Alto Straughn represented the FBGA this summer at a USDA Block Grant meeting.  The meeting’s purpose was to inform Florida commodities of research money available from the Farm Bill passed in Washington, D.C., earlier this year.  Dr. Straughn has long been concerned that Botryosphaeria/Stem Blight could radically affect Florida’s production of fresh market blueberries.  The USDA approved a proposal for developing blueberry varieties that are resistant to Botryosphaeria.  The proposed research will examine various cultivars, propagated in-vitro in sterile cultures, to see if they have less trouble with the disease than plants from softwood cuttings after they are transplanted into commercial fields.  The Board of Directors has approved three test sites which include North, Central, and South Florida.  More information will be presented at our Fall Meeting on November 6.

I took some time off with my family this summer and visited several countries on the Mediterranean Sea.  While in Spain we traveled to Seville to see Atlantic Blue’s blueberry operation.  Ulf and Pepe Hayler showed us their farm nurseries and brand new packing facility.  Cultural practices are much different there and the first thing you would notice is the blueberries planted in tunnels.  Instead of pine bark the planting medium is a sandy soil that is bedded-up with two drip-emitters and cloth covering the bed.  “Ever- greening” is the goal with no Dormex in use.  There is no overhead irrigation for frost protection, although they did have a freeze 3 years ago that effected production.  They are also experimenting with blackberries.

The first farm the Haylers showed us had 200 hectares in full production, and 20 minutes away was the new 400-hectare project which was more than 50% complete.  Atlantic Blue and Hortifrut have merged to form EuroBerries Group with 13 new patented varieties of Southern Highbush plants.  I was told that the only way to purchase the new patented varieties would be to sign a contract with Hortifrut to market the berries and pay annual royalty fees.  We saw and tasted 3 of the new varieties and the quality of the berries was excellent – very large fruit the size of a quarter or bigger, sky-blue in color, with a firm, crisp, sweet taste.

On September 9th our B.O.D. voted to amend the By-Laws and add one new position to the Board. The new position, a County Extension Agent, will be a non-voting member with a term of 3 years.

Jerry Mixon, past two-term president and current Board Member, will be stepping down this spring. His leadership has moved this Association from relative obscurity into a position of recognition and respect among other agricultural commodities and regulatory agencies.  Most recently Jerry represented the FBGA as a member of the Steering Committee of the Florida Department of Agriculture’s Office of Agricultural Water Policy.  They are developing Best Management Practices (BMPs) for Specialty Fruit and Nut Crops.  We thank Mr. Mixon for his tireless efforts that have greatly benefited the FBGA. 

Chad Dumke, Chairman of the Nominating Committee, will present the Committee’s slate for a vote on these 2 board positions at the November 6th FBGA business meeting.

I hope to see you all at the November 6th meeting at the Balm Research Center.

Donna Miller
President
Florida Blueberry Growers Association

OUR FEATURED BLUEBERRY GROWER

By Jerry Mixon, Jr.
Mixon Family Farm

My name is Jerry Mixon.  My brothers (Keith and Greg) and I have been growing and marketing blueberries for the past 15 years in the state of Florida.  We have seen a lot of changes in the industry since we planted our first bushes in the winter of 1993.  We started with 7 acres of high density plantings in Haines City, Florida, and today we operate just under 1000 acres of berries including blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Mexico.  In those days my father, Gerald Mixon, was the driving force and visionary of where we might one day be.  Since then Dad has retired and my brothers and I have taken the reigns and the responsibility of growing Mixon Family Farm and Sunnyridge Farm.  I have seen cultural practices and varieties change, the USHBC has been formed to help promote blueberries worldwide, new diseases have begun to rear their ugly heads and most recently an exponential growth in numbers of people planting blueberries.  Change is constant but several things remain.  When we planted our first bushes people were there to help-not everyone gave the same advice but everyone was willing to help.  Today, I see and hear from many of you about the people that are in the industry and how helpful they are.  Fortunately, this has stayed the same. The ability to produce a good yield per acre at low costs is a tenant that was true when we began and is still true and probably more so still today.   Today, as it was then, blueberries are great to eat.  When we tell our neighbors and friends that we are growing blueberries their eyes light up and they can’t wait for the time of season when we open the fields up for u-pick.

As I look to the future of blueberries I am very excited.  Our State is quickly becoming a major supplier of fresh blueberries.  From less than 1million pounds when I first got into the business to 9 million pounds in 2008, Florida’s berries are being consumed by families literally all over the globe.  With this growth it is going to be imperative that we as growers continue to strive to produce the highest quality berries possible.  We will have to pay more attention to the details such as record keeping for food safety purposes.  We will have to overcome the uncertainty of an unstable workforce, and most important we will have to work closely with those at the University level and encourage them to produce high quality great tasting varieties so that we can compete in a world market. These are only a few of the challenges and opportunities that we will face in the coming years; as we work together through our association I am sure Florida grown blueberries will continue to be the berry that the consumers desire.

I appreciate the opportunity to share with the association in this format and I look forward to great times ahead in the blueberry growing world.

THOUGHTS ON WINTER PREPARATION

By Jeff Williamson

As winter approaches, there are several considerations that should be on the minds of Florida blueberry growers. As fall approaches, blueberry plants should be completing a strong, healthy, summer growth flush that was the result of a combination of proper post-harvest pruning, fertilization/irrigation, and leaf disease management. However, it is important that terminal bud set occur. By early October, shoots that initiated growth during the summer should have set terminal buds and have a full complement of healthy leaves present. Terminal bud set is required for plants to enter dormancy and begin accumulating chilling that is needed to resume growth the following spring. However, after terminal shoot growth ceases, it is important that leaves remain healthy and functional well into the fall season for good flower bud initiation and development. Early defoliation from leaf diseases, red-banded thrips, or other causes reduces both the number of flower buds formed and the number of florets per flower bud. How early leaves can drop without adversely affecting flower bud initiation and development depends on many variables. However, research in north-central Florida has shown that defoliation in September or October significantly decreased flower bud formation compared with defoliation in November.

This is the time to evaluate your potential need for Dormex. Dormex is used to promote more uniform bud break of blueberry plants, particularly in situations of marginal chilling. It has worked well in Florida during some years and on some cultivars by stimulating a strong vegetative growth flush as plants emerge from dormancy and thereby advancing fruit harvest. The cultivars that respond best to Dormex tend to be those that set heavy fruit loads, leaf poorly, and are not particularly susceptible to Dormex injury. Past experience indicates there is considerable variation in response to Dormex among cultivars. Some cultivars such as ‘Sharpblue’, ‘Windsor’ and ‘Prima Donna’ show higher than average susceptibility to injury from Dormex. If a cultivar’s response to Dormex is not known, it should be tested first on a small scale before decisions on widespread use are made. Preconditioning of plants is important. Plants should be fully dormant and have received some natural chilling before Dormex applications are made. The Dormex label states that deciduous plants must be completely dormant to avoid phytotoxicity and promote maximum effectiveness. It further states that Dormex is not a substitute for dormancy. Dormex has been relatively effective in north-central Florida but perhaps less so in the warmer production regions of south-central Florida. This may be related to the physiological status of the plants (lack of full dormancy) at the time of treatment, and/or due to overall warmer temperatures that result in less natural chilling as well as intermittent periods of warm winter weather that may negate accumulated chilling. The Dormex label states that more uniform bud break will occur when plants receive their full chill hour requirement or somewhat less. Our experience in Florida suggests that Dormex works much better if plants receive significant chilling before treatment.  However, flower buds that have developed past Stage 2 (buds swollen but with bud scales tightly closed) are susceptible to injury from Dormex applications and the Dormex label states that applications should be made 30 or more days prior to natural bud break. Therefore, during some years, the time window for Dormex applications in Florida can be very short.  There will be more discussion of Dormex at the upcoming FBGA Fall Short Course. 

BLUEBERRY PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

A-1 plants! The Doc's Blueberry Nursery. Since 1988, quality Southern Highbush plants at competitive prices. Winter Haven, Central Florida. (863)325-8215. Popular commercial varieties available as liners or 1 gal pots. Call Dave Weber for price and availability. Lic No 47219637.

Agri Source. Provider of pine bark blueberry mix. Call 352-351-2700.

Blueberry Plants. High-quality, heavily-rooted, blueberry plants in one gallon containers. One or thousands, for price and availability call 813-244-5877. Sun-Robin Horticulture 14923 CR39, Lithia. Lic. No. 47236647

Bob’s Blueberry Farm and Nursery. West Pasco County. (727)863-4214 or toll free (888) 654-4214. Year around plant sales, southern highbush blueberry plants, all sizes and varieties, over 40,000 on hand. Call for prices and availability. Plan ahead, have the plants you need when you need them. Lic.  no. 47227344.

D & J Blueberry Farm and Nursery - We have the latest releases from the University of Florida in liners, gallons and groundbeds, and are taking orders for Sweetcrisp, Farthing and Scintilla.  We now carry blackberries.  Lic. no. 47237409.  For a price quote, please call (352)637-0882 or e-mail djblueberry@mindspring.com.

Elixson Wood Products, Inc. Pine bark - shredded, nuggets, or fines available. Ph (904) 964-6649.

Far Reach Ranch. Blueberry plants for sale. 30 miles North of Orlando. Jewel, Emerald, Star liners and 1 gal. Call Jerry (352) 516-7428.

Island Grove Ag Products. Don’t buy plants until you’ve talked with us. We have all varieties including new releases from the  University of Florida. We grow specifically for your needs. Lic. no. 47217870. Sheri Brothers at (352) 481-5558 or berrygirl629@aol.com
Website islandgroveagproducts.com.

Jacto Sprayers/Henry Mitchem Equip. Save time and chemical costs with a Jacto Airblast Sprayer. Jacto is the number one sprayer in the blueberry and nursery industries and has proven itself in helping productivity. For more information or a demonstration, call Kenny Mitchem at (352) 787-4109, Leesburg FL. 

Miller Blueberry Nursery.  Rt. 3, Box 5700, Palatka, FL 32177, Telephone (386) 325-7373.  Let us supply your blueberry plants.  All varieties.  All sizes.  Bare root and potted.  Please call for prices.  Lic. no. 04720531.

Mixon Family Farm, Inc. We have excellent quality blueberry plants for sale. We sell Bare Root or Rooted Cuttings and we have the newest releases form the University of Florida. Call Jerry Mixon (863) 439-8335 for price and availability. License no. 472255191.

NATIONAL EMPLOYER SERVICES Full employer-related services provided to blueberry growers for both seasonal and year-round employment needs.  Our co-employment services include:  payroll services, workers' compensation coverage, human resources expertise, safety/risk management expertise, and much more! For more information, call Jeff H. Futch toll-free at (866) 343-5400 or by cell at (863) 443-2428.  Industry references available.

Row Mulcher for Rent  $50 per day of use. Will deliver and pick-up on long rentals. D&J Blueberry Farm 352-637-0882 or email djblueberry@mindspring.com  Ask for Don Goldberg or Donna Miller.

SOUTHERN BLUES are you looking for plants. We have what you are looking for. 4" deep cell tray plants ready for the field. Dont waste time growing them out. Availability in Nov. All varieties. We also have Ouachita, Arapaho & Navaho Blackberry plants. Call about availability and prices. Call 352-267-1922 Lic 01209000

True Blue Plants - The South Eastern U.S. largest blueberry plant propagator handling orders from 1 to 1 million.  We grow all U.F. released highbush varieties and will accommodate orders from liners to 1 or 3 gallon plants.  Starting a new farm?  Call for special pricing or make an appointment to meet with our experienced growing and development staff.  Lic. no. 47237564

8” Holloshaft Gear Drive 70hp
1320 Drive RPM
1760 Pump RPM
Lane & Bowler 6 cyl Perkins engine.
Call 352-745-6143.

10” Amarill right angle gear drive
80 hp @ 1760 vert. Gould 1985
4 cyl 2003 John Deere model.
Call 352-745-6143.

17,000 1 gal blueberry plants.
Lic. no. 47217870. Call 352-745-6143.

ADVERTISING INFORMATION

We welcome advertising from blueberry nurseries and suppliers. The cost is 30 cents per word per issue of the newsletter in which your message appears. Send your blueberry-related message and a check payable to FLORIDA BLUEBERRY GROWERS' ASSOCIATION to our address given below under membership information. Advertisements and claims therein to do not constitute an endorsement by the Florida Blueberry Growers' Association or the University of Florida.

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

To join or renew your membership to the Florida Blueberry Growers Association, mail a check payable to FLORIDA BLUEBERRY GROWERS' ASSOCIATION to our address:

Florida Blueberry Growers' Association
P.O. Box 163
Island Grove , FL 32654

The Association annual dues depend on which membership category you fit best.

1. Regular Florida Member - $10.00 per acre of blueberries, except a minimum of $50.00 and a maximum of $200.00.

2. Out-of -state member - $50.00

3. Associate member - $100.00 (Equipment and chemical companies, etc.)

4. Educational and Research - $10.00 (University and USDA personnel who do not grow blueberries commercially)