FRNEWS V39 Issue 9

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Protecting Florida’s $80 mil-lion blueberry crop from freeze dam-age is always a wintertime challenge, but a University of Florida study shows that structures called high tun-nels could shield plants from cold and promote earlier fruit ripening. Though the initial investment can run from $18,000 to $25,000 per acre plus labor, high tunnels deliver better quality fruit, bigger early yields and higher prices if growers beat com-petitors to market, said Bielinski San-tos, an associate professor with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sci-ences. The study, published in the current issue of HortTechnology, tracked two growing seasons on a commercial blueberry farm in Alachua County. The results showed that tem-peratures outside the tunnels plunged to freezing or near-freezing 61 times during the study. Temperatures fell that low just three times inside the un-heated tunnels. High tunnels may increase air and soil temperatures and protect the plants from wind and rain damage, leading to better fl owering and more fruit, said Santos, based at UF’s Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Balm. Plants grown in the tunnels produced about 4.5 tons of ripe fruit per acre by the end of March; no ripe fruit came from similar plants grown outdoors during that time. Wholesale prices for domestic blueberries are highest early in the season, starting at about $7 per pound in early April, he said. “Usually, Florida growers start harvesting in early April,” Santos said. “The more fruit you can harvest early in the season, the more money you’ll make.” Growers can also save money with high tunnels because they mini-mize the need for another freeze pro-

Blueberry plants grow inside a high tunnel at the University of Florida’s Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Balm, in this undated fi le photo. A recent study by researchers at the Balm center showed that high tunnels offer freeze protection and encourage early fruit ripening, both of which can help growers make more money. Bielinski Santos, an associate professor with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, has begun an economic study to help growers better understand the potential costs and benefi ts of high tunnels.

Tunnel Technology Could Help Florida Blueberry Growers,

UF/IFAS Study Suggests

Hunter Shuff, a junior at Plant City High School, and his mother, Stephanie Shuff, advanced math teacher at Tomlin Middle School, had a successful hunt in the wilds of Kentucky over the Thanksgiving week holiday. The two deer were shot 10-seconds apart.

Great Hunting in Kentucky!

tection strategy – sprinkling the plants with water to form a layer of ice. In the study, tunnel-grown plants needed about one-tenth the water for freeze protection as plants grown outdoors. The study involved two blue-berry varieties developed at UF, Snow Chaser and Springhigh. Snow Chaser is especially well-suited to life in high tunnels, Santos said. Made by stretching thick plas-tic sheeting across an arched frame, high tunnels resemble Quonset huts, he said. Although they have variable dimensions, most tunnels have roofs anywhere from 8 to 20 feet high, with ends and sides that can be open or sealed, depending on the weather. The technology is popular in other parts of the world but still catch-ing on in the United States, Santos said. In Florida, high tunnels and other protective structures account for about 250 acres of production, mostly for high-value crops such as blueberries, strawberries, tomatoes and bell pep-pers. “We always thought it was re-ally complicated and expensive,” San-tos said. “So for the past six years I’ve tried to ‘vulgarize’ the technology and develop a system anyone can use.” Santos said he knows of one Florida blueberry grower using high tunnels; the owners tried 2 acres in 2010 and later expanded to 80 acres. Others have expressed interest in the system. Santos and co-author Teresa Salame-Donoso, a research associate at the Balm center, have begun col-lecting data for an economic study on blueberry production in high tunnels. “We already have some num-bers, and we’re collecting the kind of information growers need to make up their own minds about using high tun-nels,” he said. “I see more people do-ing it eventually.”

Volume 39 • Number 9 • 2012 • Farm & Ranch Newspage2 www.farmandranchnews.com

Volume 39 • Number 9 • 2012 • Farm & Ranch News page3www.farmandranchnews.com

The On-Going Saga of the Rancher’s Confi scated Cattle


the davis reportBy Roy Davis- Associate Editor

This month I will fi ll you in on a new chapter in

the saga of the 35 head of cattle that our Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Depart-ment confi scated from part time rancher Richard Mc-Daniel. You might recall that I reported in early Octo-ber that the Agricultural Division of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department, acting on another prop-erty owner’s complaint, moved in and confi scated Mr. McDaniel’s entire herd when a person complained that the cattle were being underfed. After I wrote my column about this event, I made an appointment with the administrative offi cer of the Agricultural Division of the Sherriff’s Department. In the beginning of our discussion, the Ser-geant pointed out that he found a number of errors in my column.

1. The complainant was not a neighbor; the complain-ant was from Clearwater, Fla. That is interesting, I thought. How would a person from Clearwater even know of cattle that The McDaniel family owned in obscure parts of Hillsborough County? My research seems to indicate that this situation might be managed by activists from PETA, as they are constantly attacking farmers and farm practic-es.

2. I believe I stated that 31 cattle were confi scated, when actually there were 35 head involved.

3. I might have indicated that the cattle were confi s-cated the fi rst time the Deputies responded to the complaint. Actually, the department was fi rst in-volved on December 2nd. Mr. McDaniel hired a vet to check the cattle, and the vet issued written in-structions on how the cows should be fed and cared for. He also treated for parasites as necessary. Mr. McDaniel’s has records that prove that he followed the instructions of the vet to the letter.

I readily admit to those two errors, but I stand by every other statement that I made in that column. A civil court case of this nature normally takes 30 min-utes to one hour. This hearing took fi ve (5) hours. The Judge ruled that 34 of the 35 head were to be returned to the rancher immediately. The Judge ruled that the testimony and the re-

cords proved that the vet’s instructions were exactly followed, and there was no justifi cation for holding the cattle. All but one of the cattle was promptly returned to their pastures. A full copy of the Judges ruling can be found on the Farm & Ranch News website at www.FARMAND RANCHNEWS.COM. One would think that the story ends there; but no, there is more. The Judges ruling was dated July 28th, 2012. There was a 30 day period that this ruling could have been appealed, and the Sheriff’s Depart-ment decided not to appeal the ruling. The appeal window ended on Aug 28th. The Sheriff’s Department sought and received (from a dif-ferent Judge) warrants for the arrest of Richard and Ju-lie McDaniel on September 7th, 2012. That is 10 days after the civil Judge ruled that McDaniel’s had cared for the cows properly. The Ranchers were arrested and booked into jail. Their bond was set at $ 10,000.00 each. They took savings that had been set aside for paying their property taxes, and posted the bond. Now they have no money with which to pay their taxes. When FELONY warrants of this nature are ap-plied for and approved by a Judge, and after the “crimi-nals” have been arrested and have made an appearance in Court, the case is often sent to the State Attorney’s Offi ce. State Attorney Mark Ober assigns the case to one of his assistant State Attorneys for investigation and processing. After 3 weeks of intense investigation, the State Attorneys offi ce declined to prosecute the case. The McDaniel’s are now cleared of all charges. It is not known whether they will attempt to recover their costs from Hillsborough County.


“Notes, Knots, and Heroes”A Collection of Things This Month

Jefferson’s Decalogue of Canons

After becoming prom-inent, it wasn’t unusual for various of the found-ers of this country to have children named for them

and Thomas Jefferson was no exception. At very near the end of his life, he was informed by the parents of a baby boy they had named their son “Thomas Jefferson Smith” and he was requested to write a letter that might provide guidance for the child’s future life. In this context, the title means, “Ten Statements of Rules” and are suggested as good advice for every-day life. No student of Jefferson would say that he lived up to all of these. One or two, he obviously failed in completely. But most he kept very well and, even in those he did not, he recognized wisdom. Some will sound familiar to you, some will probably puzzle you a bit, and several will sound like they were written by someone who knew what life would be like two centu-ries after he had gone.A Decalogue of Canons for observation in practical life.1. Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today. 2. Never trouble another for what you can do yourself. 3. Never spend your money before you have it. 4. Never buy what you do not want because it is cheap; it will be dear to you. 5. Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst, and cold. 6. We never repent of having eaten too little. 7. Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly. 8. How much pain has cost us the evils which have nev-er happened. 9. Take things always by their smooth handle. 10. When angry, count ten before you speak; if very angry, an hundred.

Post Election I really don’t want anyone to take this the wrong way. The election is over and the decision has been made. But when I consulted The Devil’s Diction-

ary by Ambrose Bierce for a definition of “Wisdom” I thought it more appropriate to include the last entry under “V” instead. “Vote, n. The instrument and symbol of a free-man’s power to make a fool of himself and a wreck of his country.” You can just make whatever you want of that.“You can fool some of the people some of the time . . .” Jerry Weintraub is a Hollywood producer and was the CEO of United Artists. I heard him tell this story in May, 2010. Once when he produced Elton John, John was complaining about everything from the food, to the stage, to the accomodations. Jerry sat down with him one day and John began complaining again. Jerry said, “Listen, it is all taken care of. I’ve fired Ferguson and everything will be OK now.” Elton John asked why that would solve any-thing. “Well, Ferguson was in charge of it all. I fired him and put other people in so everything will be fine now.” The next day, Weintraub said to John, “Elton, I feel bad about firing Ferguson.” “Why is that?” “Well, he’s not like us and I feel bad about just firing him.” John said, “Well why don’t you find him another little job where he can’t do anything but he feels important?” Weintraub said, “That is a great idea. I’ll do that!” He never heard another complaint out of Elton John on the production. Of course, there never was any ‘Ferguson’!

Can you raed tihs? I hvae been tlod tath olyn 55 out fo 100 poelpe cna. f yuo can raed tihs, you hvae a sgtrane mnid, too. i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesd-natnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, arpapnelyt aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno’t mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed

ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Aza-nmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! Fi oyu can raed this, dnot’ ltel a tacehr! If you can’t read it, I understand that your mind works only half as fast as someone’s who can read it. I am such a slow thinker, I feel sorry for you. As an added challenge, there is an anomaly I have inserted above. You have to read it close to find the extra hidden test.

Heroes Have you noticed how candid the Bible is about its heroes? It doesn’t whitewash the flaws and failures of its characters. Abraham is not only the “father of all who be-lieve” but also the frightened husband who put his wife in jeopardy to save his neck, lying about their relation-ship not once but twice! King David is not only the “man after God’s own heart” but the unfaithful husband who lies and kills a man to try to keep the affair from being exposed. Peter is not only the great apostle but also the fearful fisherman who denies knowing Jesus in his greatest hour of need - not once, but three times. Rahab was a prostitute. There is a medieval saying that “God draws straight lines with crooked sticks.” The Bible is about real people -- and real peo-ple have strengths as well as weaknesses, good days as well as bad. And, too, God knows everything and lies about nothing. So the Bible doesn’t tell half-truths or gloss over human frailty. And finally, the whole story gets told so you and I will understand that God is willing to accept and include us too. God does some of His best work through the most unlikely people. He draws some beautifully straight lines with some of the most crooked sticks.


As we celebrate Thanksgiv-ing, we should examine what les-sons can be learned from the fi rst Thanksgiving celebration. One little

known fact is when the Pilgrims landed they estab-lished a short-lived form of agricultural communism. The land was owned in common; everyone worked for each other and each received an equal al-lotment of food no matter how hard they worked. The men planted for everyone and the women prepared food and washed clothes for everyone. This system quickly failed. The women de-scribed the communal chores as a form of slavery, men rapidly lost motivation, and the able-bodied feigned illness to avoid work. As Governor William Bradford described in Of Plymouth Plantation, “[T]he vanity of that conceit of Plato & other ancients…that ye [the] taking away of property, and bringing in community into a com-mon wealth, would make them happy and fl ourishing; as if they were wiser than God. For this...was found to breed much confusion & discontent, and retard much employment...” The crops dwindled to only providing several kernels of corn per meal. It was so bleak that some Pilgrims sold themselves as workers to the Indians for a few cups of food. It is estimated that since a greater

number of woman died than did children the mothers were giving their few kernels to their children to keep them alive. Others tried to forage for food, but many died of starvation. After much debate and prayer, Bradford estab-lished a free market system by assigning each family a portion of land and giving them rights to what it pro-duced. He was amazed at the results, and wrote, “[I]t made all hands very industrious, so as much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been by any means…and gave far better content. The women now went willingly into the fi eld, and took their little ones with them to set corn; which before would allege weak-ness and inability…” This new respect for the fruit of each person’s labor was what Bradford credited with creating the

bountiful harvest and the reason the Pilgrims were able to celebrate what we think of as the “First Thanksgiving.” Think of how happy the Pilgrims were to know that they would not face starvation that winter. This is a poignant lesson as some Americans again look at rewarding laziness with welfare and taking from those who work hard and providing it to those who have worked less, or not at all. “We have so much to be thankful for in America” said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. “The Pilgrims learned a brutal les-son regarding communal living. In America, equal opportunity has always been a foundational value. At-tempting to create equal outcomes for everyone will create disincentives and make society poor. Let’s be grateful and learn from the Pilgrims. Let’s not repeat their mistake.” Staver said.

known fact is when the Pilgrims landed they estab-

The Pilgrims Were Thankful They AbandonedCommunism; and We too Can be Thankful


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The Propane FEED (Farm Equipment Effi-ciency Demonstration) program makes using a pro-pane-fueled irrigation engine even more cost-effec-tive because of an incentive of up to $3,000 paired with its portability and low fuel costs. The Propane Education & Research Council recently expanded the FEED program, a demonstra-tion initiative that tests the performance of new pro-pane-fueled equipment and offers incentives in return for reports from the field about the performance of the products. “When comparing propane to other fuel sources, it’s more efficient because of the price of propane. It’s reliable, and its portability makes irri-gating easier,” Brandon Hewett, owner and president of J&J Gas Service in Mayo, Fla., said. “Using the

Propane Enhances Efficiency ofNorth Florida Farm Operation

incentive through the FEED program is like finding a $20 bill in your pants’ pocket.” Propane irrigation engines can cost consid-erably less to buy and operate than diesel irrigation engines. Farmers can sign up for the Propane FEED program by visitingwww.agpropane.com/FEED and calculate their potential costs savings when switching from diesel to propane through the cost comparison calculator. Environmentally, propane-fueled irrigation engines produce up to 24 percent fewer greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than gasoline and 11 percent fewer GHG emissions than diesel engines. Keith Shaw, a corn farmer from Mayo, Fla., uses a propane-fueled grain dryer because of its ef-ficiency, environmental quality, handling costs and

the economical fuel price of propane. Now, with the help of the Propane FEED incentive program, he has saved more money on a new grain dryer and is able to run a more productive operation. “I bought a grain dryer because it’s cheaper to dry my corn on the farm rather than outsourcing, and it makes my crop easier to market,” Shaw said. “The $5,000 incentive obviously helped me save up front, and the cost savings on propane fuel helps me run a more efficient operation.” PERC’s vision is that the agricultural indus-try will embrace propane as a preferred energy source that offers cost-effectiveness, efficiency and pro-ductivity, reliability, portability, and environmental friendliness. For more information on PERC and its programs to promote the safe and efficient use of pro-pane in agriculture, call 202-452-8975 or visit www.agpropane.com.


Take Your Daughter Hunting! By David “Top” Hargroves and James Garnerwww.Teamblackhogdown.com

With the rise in school dropouts, teen preg-nancies, domestic violence and single parenting as the norm, lets change things up this year. Team Black Hog Down is challenging you to take your daughter hunting on the 2nd weekend of December. Yes, that is right! Sit in the blind with your daughter and just listen to what she has to say. Don’t get on to her because she doesn’t know what to do (that can be fi xed, and it is your fault anyway). Just be patient and teach her in a compassionate way. Yeah, this is true. You might not get that big bruiser that weekend, and your stand might have spar-kles in it for the season, but she will talk about you and her hunting to all her friends and you will be her hero again. I know hunting with a young female can be challenging, and she will get bored easily, but so do you. If I have a buddy in the woods with me in another stand, and nothing is moving, he will not stop texting me to see if I have seen anything. But just think if you take the time to show her what to do and how to do it! Then, when some young

buck comes a courting her she might have more stories than him, and she just might compare every man in her life to you. Or that bruiser may just end up on her wall! What better story for her to include her Daddy in “when I shot this, my Daddy was there”? Remember: it is not the size of the horns, it’s the memories that go with it. Ten or more years down the road, and you see her on TV as a white tail or hog hunter pro staffer, you can say “she got it from me, not that boy she met”. Remember to be safe and show respect to your family, the environment, and most of all our Lord for he gave us the dominion over all the animals on the earth and blessed Team Black Hog Down with the right at-tractant to get them in range. So, check us out at www.teamblackhogdown.com and get you some cover scent for that blind and tree stand that will mask the perfume and glitter. God bless, and have a safe season from our families to yours! Thanks to Farm & Ranch News for giving lo-cal hunting enthusiasts an outlet for local stories, prod-ucts and information.

Kaynan O’Donnell

Adison Hargroves


Even though young people are allowed to hunt and fish in Florida without having to buy a li-cense until they turn 16 years old, a change in the license system now makes it possible for youngsters to voluntarily purchase their licenses early and start contributing today toward conservation. Youths under 16 years of age can now pur-chase their very first annual freshwater, saltwater or hunting license, which will remain valid until their 17th birthday, no matter how young they are when

Youths can Join the FWC Conservation Teamthey buy it. All three types of licenses are $17. “You’re never too young to start contributing to our great state’s hunting and fishing heritage and protecting our wild habitats and resources,” said Rich-ard Corbett, a Commissioner with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). “And this new ability to purchase a license creates a wonderful opportunity to do just that.”Youths under 16 years of age will still have to complete the state’s hunter safety certification before taking ad-

vantage of this special license opportunity for hunt-ing. The classes are free. Safety classes aren’t re-quired for fishing licenses. Another opportunity for youths is the $100 Gold Sportsman’s license, which authorizes the holder to take game and freshwater or saltwater fish and provides the deer, management area, archery season, muzzleloading season, crossbow season, turkey, waterfowl, snook and spiny lobster (craw-fish) permit privileges. For every year that passes until a youth turns 17, the FWC will receive approximately $7 in matching federal funds, which will be used to pre-serve and manage the nearly 6 million acres of the state’s public-hunting, wildlife management area system and the state’s saltwater and freshwater fish-eries. Go toMyFWC.com/HunterSafety to learn when to register a child for a hunter safety class. The new hunting and fishing youth licenses can be purchased at all outlets that sell hunting and fishing licenses, such as county tax collectors offices. They also can be bought online at License.MyFWC.com. The youth license became available at the same time the FWC launched its new Recreational License Issuance Services (RLIS) on Oct. 2. The li-cense vendor is Brandt Information Services of Tal-lahassee.

www.farmandranchnews.com Volume 39 • Number 9 • 2012 • Farm & Ranch News

With the holidays just around the corner, many shoppers are already searching for affordable methods of pay-ing for big-ticket holiday gifts. If you are considering using a “layaway plan,” the following information can help you have a joyful season.How Layaway Plans Work• No interest is charged on the pur-

chase. • Buyers should expect to make a

down payment of 10 to 20 percent• Merchants may charge a small fee

for holding the item(s)• Consumers usually have to pay for

the merchandise in 30 to 90 days, and can’t take the merchandise home until it’s fully paid for

Questions To Ask Before Entering Into A Layaway Agreement• How much time do I have to pay off

the item?• When are the payments due?• How much do I have to put down?• Are there any storage or service plan

fees?• What happens if I miss a payment? • Do I have to pay a penalty? • What happens to my merchandise? • Can I get a refund or store credit if

I no longer want one or more of the items after making payments?

• What happens if the item goes on sale after I’ve put it on layaway?

LET THE HOLIDAY SHOPPING SEASON BEGIN!!

Gov. Rick Scott has appointed George Mann to the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board. Mann, of Polk City, is a retired business development manager at Treatt USA, which processes citrus products. Mann was appointed to succeed Neil Combee whose term ends March 1, 2013. Mann is currently serving as a board member of Anchor House Minis-try. Previously, he served on the Florida Citrus Processors Association Commit-tee and the Editorial Advisory Board of

Governor Appoints Mann to Governing Board

the Citrus & Vegetable Magazine. Mann received a bachelor’s degree in Citrus Business from Florida Southern College in Lakeland. Governing Board members are unpaid, citizen volunteers who are ap-pointed by the Governor and confi rmed by the Florida Senate. The Governing Board sets policy for the District, whose mission is to manage the water and re-lated resources of west central Florida to meet the needs of current and future water users while protecting the environ-ment.

• Are electronic items subject to strict-er rules, limited return rights, re-stocking fees, shorter return periods, or no refunds at all?

Be Familiar With Return Policies Be-fore Making Purchases• Find out if the store has different

rules for different categories of items• Inquire about the company’s online

policies as they may differ from in-store rules

• Keep the original receipt and pack-aging

Help For Your Online Shopping Com-parisons And Price Research• Consumer Reports has hundreds of

reviews, but you’ll have to pay a subscription fee

• Amazon.com and CNET offer user reviews and ratings

• Pricegrabber.com lets consumers comparison shop for the best price

Other online sites are also avail-able. Consumers should always read the fi ne print and know what to expect be-fore deciding to use layaway as a pur-chase option. Always check the retailer’s standing at the Better Business Bureau website www.bbb.org.

Web sites listed are for consumer edu ca-tion and resource only. No endorsement by Hillsborough County is implied.


Parkway Baptist Church Sends to You the Warmest of Christmas Greetings!

Pastor Richard and Sally Moore

We too, like many of you, fi nd our-selves in the midst of a very busy schedule for this special holiday season and realize how important true fellow-ship with other believ-ers is to all of us. If you do not already have a church family with which to celebrate Christmas and the New Year, we would like to have you join with us as we wor-ship our Lord and Sav-ior on Sunday morn-ings at 10:45 a.m. Come even earlier at 9:15 a.m. for a time of fellowship and refreshment and then a challenging Bible study beginning at 9:30 a.m. We have classes for all ages and would love to have you join with us as we seek to bring honor and glory to our heavenly Father through our study, praise, and worship. Hello, my name is Dick Moore, and I am the new pastor as of September 1st of Parkway Baptist Church at 4305 James L. Redman Parkway in Plant City. My wife, Sally, and I are excited to join with this small group of believ-ers at Parkway as we look forward to the Lord building His church in this commu-nity. We know that the Lord will bring into this fellowship those He desires to use to reach our neighborhood of south Plant City with the “good news” of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We would love to have you join with us in this exciting endeavor of serv-ing Jesus by sharing His love in our area.

I look forward to sharing a short word with you in upcoming issues of the Farm & Ranch News and hope to challenge you to grow spiritually as you face the challenges of day-to-day living. Look for our fi rst “offi cial” column in the next paper. I welcome your input to this col-umn and hope it will be a blessing to you. Let me know what would be meaningful to you and where your interests are and I will try to address as many suggestions as possible. The arrival of a new pastor to any church seems much like a new be-ginning and I trust you may want to be a part of this new ministry at Parkway Baptist Church. My goal for our church is that we become a “House of Prayer” that is avail-able to all.How might we pray for you and your family?Blessings to you in Jesus’ name. Pastor Dick Moore dmoorefl @yahoo.com


Their name is comical, but when crazy ants in-fest a neighborhood it’s no laughing matter. The fast-moving, invasive insects are present in Florida and several other Gulf Coast states. They can establish colonies with multiple queens and millions of workers, blanketing lawns and sidewalks, killing native species, shorting out electrical systems and creating headaches for homeowners and pest-control operators. So far, efforts to control crazy ants have in-volved a patchwork of approaches, many of which failed. But a team of University of Florida researchers is developing an integrated pest management system tai-lored to the species’ unique characteristics and habits. It will be several months before full recommen-dations are ready. Based on studies of crazy ants’

An invasive crazy ant is seen in this fi le photo from the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. A team of UF/IFAS researchers is developing an integrated pest management system to help control the spe-cies, which is present in 20 Florida counties.

Crazy Ant Control Strategies Taking Shape for UF/IFAS Researchers

feeding and nesting habits, IFAS has developed some preliminary suggestions for pest-control professionals: First, it’s crucial to attack the problem early in the year, preferably in February or March before the weather warms up and the ants begin breeding. Profes-sionals should use baits after applying a contact insec-ticide to reduce ant numbers, but be careful not to place baits where they’ll be contaminated by contact insecti-cides. Also, county extension offi ces can help pro-fessionals access continuing-education materials with detailed information about the insect and treatment op-tions. For homeowners, IFAS suggests seeking pro-fessional help immediately. “We haven’t seen anyone who successfully dealt with it on their own,” they say. However, there are several things homeowners can do to reduce the risk of attracting a crazy ant infes-tation. The insects nest outdoors in damp, confi ned spaces, so it’s important to remove leaf litter, storm de-bris and other yard waste that could provide shelter, she said. They also need water to survive, so residents should fi x leaky outdoor faucets, pipes and irrigation systems, and minimize standing-water sources, such as pet bowls and fl ower pots.

In the spring and summer, it’s a good idea to check yards for established colonies. Look for golden-brown ants running erratically on structures, vegetation or the ground. Also, crazy ants do not build mounds. The species is often referred to as the Caribbe-an crazy ant, but it appears that name may be mislead-ing. Until recently it was thought that well-publicized infestations in Florida were caused by a species present in the state for half a century, Nylanderia pubens. But a research paper published this year showed that the crazy ants swarming in Jacksonville and Gainesville were actually the species Nylanderia fulva. It’s likely that some, if not all, Gulf Coast infesta-tions are caused by this species, which hails from South America. Currently, 20 Florida counties have reported invasive crazy ant colonies, with Sarasota County hard-est-hit. Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana have also ex-perienced problems with N. fulva, which probably ar-rived in the United States 10 to 20 years ago via soil or plant material transported on ships. Though the ant does not pack a painful bite or sting, scientists are concerned that it could gravely im-pact Florida’s agricultural industries if it enters agricul-tural systems. In Colombia, where the species has been established for decades, harvests sometimes are nega-tively impacted by the overwhelming presence of crazy ants in crop fi elds.


Agriculture continues to be a vital mainstay of Hillsborough Coun-ty’s economy, as shown by the 2011 agriculture sales and acreage estimates released this week by the Hillsbor-ough County Agriculture Industry De-velopment Program and Hillsborough County Extension Service. According to the data, the 2011 sales estimate of Hillsborough County agriculture products is $832 million, up $16 million from 2010. Hillsborough County has 2,843 farms, which is the second largest number of farms of any county in the state of Florida. Hillsborough County covers more than 1,000 square miles, and 255,532 acres of that (39 percent) is used for agriculture production. Hillsborough ranks as the 4th largest producer of agricultural prod-ucts in the state, and 59th out of 3,076 counties in the United States. Strawberries continue to be the highest sales crop at $388,125,702, which is almost 47 percent of the County’s total agricultural sales. Hill-

Hillsborough County is One of the Nation’s Top Agricultural Producers

sborough produces 90 percent of the strawberries grown in Florida, and nearly 11 percent of the strawberries grown in the nation. Hillsborough also produces 14 percent of Florida’s to-matoes, and 5 percent of the tomatoes grown in the U.S. The next highest sales crops after strawberries are:

• Vegetables production at second with $150,000,000 with 18 percent of annual sales.

• Ornamental plants at third with $139,232,407 accounting for 16.7 percent of annual sales.

• Aquaculture at fourth with $23,546,112 and 2.8 percent of annual sales.

• Beef cattle/pasture at fifth with $18,934,207 and 2.2 percent of annual sales.

Local agriculture sales sup-port the local economy through related businesses such as banking, real es-tate, transportation, packaging, equip-ment, seed, agricultural suppliers and services, and marketing firms.


University of Florida straw-berry breeder Vance Whitaker has been named the recipient of the Rich-ard Jones Outstanding New Faculty Research Award for 2013. The award, named for a for-mer UF/IFAS dean for research, is pre-sented to untenured faculty who have a distinguished record of research since joining UF’s Institute of Food and Ag-ricultural Sciences. The award’s purpose is to rec-ognize the development of the recipi-ent’s research program and its recent contributions to the scientifi c fi eld, as

Strawberry Breeder to ReceiveNew Faculty Research Award

well as provide incentive for continued excellence in research. Whitaker is an assistant pro-fessor in horticulture at the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Balm. His research program works to develop strawberry varieties for Flor-ida growers that have desirable traits, including great fl avor, high yield, dis-ease resistance and more. The award includes a one-time, $2,500 salary supplement and a $2,500 grant to support Whitaker’s research. The award will be presented at the sixth annual Florida Agricultural Experiment Station awards ceremony on April 25.


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FRNEWS V39 Issue 9

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Transcript of FRNEWS V39 Issue 9