In the June All In For Citrus podcast, Michael Rogers gives an update on some of the activities keeping University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) researchers busy this summer. Rogers is the director of the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred.

One of their big projects is helping to coordinate the citrus seminars for the upcoming Citrus & Specialty Crop Expo on Aug. 20–21 at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa.

Rogers provides a sneak peek of the citrus presentations, which number more than 20. While the Expo program will focus on HLB management, additional topics will be addressed. This includes other diseases and pests, crop insurance considerations and more.

The citrus seminars will provide growers with the latest knowledge on how to optimize trunk injection of oxytetracycline (OTC). New research on OTC applications and degradation and how different varieties respond to treatments will be shared. There will also be a presentation on advancements in automated trunk injection.

Lukasz Stelinski, UF/IFAS professor of entomology and nematology, joins the podcast to give growers useful reminders on Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) management. He stresses the importance of new flush in timing insecticide applications targeting the ACP. Stelinski also emphasizes the importance of dormant sprays during the winter to really push the pest’s population down.

On the disease front, Megan Dewdney, UF/IFAS associate professor of plant pathology, speaks in the podcast about some key disease concerns this time of year, including phytophthora brown rot, algal spot and canker. She adds that melanose could be more problematic than normal due to recent weather patterns of heavier rainfall.

The May All In For Citrus podcast features highlights from a recent OJ Break hosted by the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC) in Lake Alfred.

Podcast host Frank Giles caught up with Michael Rogers, CREC director, during the event. Rogers summarized some of the information presented at the OJ Break, including a talk by Nian Wang, UF/IFAS professor and Graves Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair in Biotechnology, on his work to develop a CRISPR citrus tree with resistance to HLB.

Wang has already engaged with the regulatory agencies required to get a CRISPR tree approved for commercial use by growers. Those agencies include the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Rogers said the good news is a CRISPR tree is not a transgenic genetically modified plant, which means the regulatory process is easier to navigate. When a tree is proven to work in real-world grove conditions, it can be moved to growers more quickly. But Rogers added it will take time to identify the right tree.

In addition, Wang discussed an observation he made during his research on letting some rootstock shoots grow up into the canopy of the tree. Some rootstocks have proven to be more tolerant to HLB.

“Studies have shown that the root-die off from HLB is caused by carbohydrate starvation, because the plant is not moving the carbohydrates down to roots from the leaves,” Rogers explained.

Wang observed that the rootstock shoots act as a means to move carbohydrates down to the roots. This could help sustain roots in HLB-infected trees.

“I want to be clear this an observation and not a recommendation from UF/FAS,” Rogers said. “But it might spark some ideas with growers as it did today with the OJ Break audience. And that’s a fact that some of our rootstocks are very tolerant to HLB on their own.”

Also discussed in the May episode of All In For Citrus is managing the growing problem with snails in citrus as well as survey results on grower attitudes toward trunk injection of oxytetracycline. The podcast is a partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

April is a busy month for citrus events. The Florida Citrus Growers’ Institute was held in Avon Park early in the month followed by a citrus field day at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Southwest Florida Research and Education Center (SFWREC) in Immokalee.

These events are the topic of the April episode of the All In For Citrus podcast. Michael Rogers, director of the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center, opens the podcast with a summary of the presentations given at the Florida Citrus Growers’ Institute. Covered subjects are psyllid management, rootstock interactions with oxytetracycline (OTC), the development of a Bacillus thuringiensis citrus tree, optimizing the use of plant growth regulators (PGRs) and an update from the UF/IFAS Crop Transformation Center.

Tripti Vashisth, UF/IFAS associate professor of citrus horticulture, discusses in more detail her Florida Citrus Growers’ Institute presentation on the use of PGRs like gibberellic acid to improve tree health and yields. Vashisth has developed a program approach utilizing various types of PGRs during different parts of the season.

Her results show yield and quality improvements in line with the use of OTC. She added that her PGR program would be a good option to apply during the label-required off year of OTC use. The PGRs are also a good complement to use with OTC.

Sarah Strauss, UF/IFAS associate professor of soil microbiology, details the SFWREC citrus field day and the tour stop she hosted on the use of cover crops and compost to boost soil and tree health. Her research is studying how compost in conjunction with cover crops can benefit soil.

The podcast is a partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

With spring comes a number of citrus events. One of those was the Florida Citrus Show held on March 13 in Fort Pierce. Michael Rogers, director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center, joins the March All In For Citrus podcast to discuss highlights of Florida Citrus Show. He also gives a sneak peek of the annual Florida Citrus Growers’ Institute planned for April 8 at South Florida State College in Avon Park.

Rogers says the seminars were well attended at the Florida Citrus Show and covered a wide range of topics. One highlight was a grower panel, which he says was a good example of growers and researchers collaborating.

“It was good to hear that the growers on the panel were committed to hanging in there and continuing to fight HLB,” says Rogers. “I really appreciated that they are sharing information and working closely with the researchers.”

Chris Oswalt, citrus Extension agent for Polk and Hillsborough counties, also joins the podcast this month to give more details on the Citrus Institute. There’s a change in the program this year that he believes growers will appreciate. After lunch, rather than going back into a seminar setting with speakers, there will be researchers from the various UF/IFAS citrus labs available to answer specific questions from attendees. It will be a way that growers can build their own educational experience. The Citrus Institute will be providing continuing education units for growers.

Also in the March podcast, UF/IFAS weed scientist Ramdas Kanissery discusses his research aimed at helping citrus growers manage weeds. He says this is a tough task given Florida’s climate and large weed-seed bank in the soil. One area he is studying is the growing tolerance weeds are developing to important herbicides like glyphosate. He also talks about the role cover crops could play in weed management.

In the February episode of the All In For Citrus podcast, Michael Rogers provides an update on activities at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred. He said the beginning of the year is the time when current and future projects are evaluated.

“The months of February and March are full of meetings with our faculty one-on-one where we go over the accomplishments of the past year,” Rogers said. “It allows us to see what’s going on more in-depth about the progress being made in research with each faculty member. There are areas where great progress is being made, but they might need more resources and support to make things happen.”

He added that the emphasis is on keeping research moving forward, especially when it comes to HLB. It’s all hands on deck when it comes to HLB.

Rogers said he has reviewed some very promising work in this year’s faculty evaluations. One project is looking at how the HLB bacterium moves from cell to cell in the tree. Molecules that allow the bacteria to move throughout the plant have been identified. By using techniques like CRISPR, scientists could develop a way to prevent those molecules from having the ability to pass along the HLB bacteria.

Another study he mentioned is a project looking at the HLB tolerance of the Parson Brown orange. UF/IFAS is studying why the variety has this tolerance to the disease. This is useful information in developing future HLB-tolerant varieties.

Also in this episode, UF/IFAS associate professor Davie Kadyampakeni shares the latest information on the work to update citrus nutrient recommendations for Florida’s best management practices program. And Ute Albrecht, UF/IFAS associate professor, discusses what has been learned to optimize trunk-injection applications of oxytetracycline.

Recently, the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) reported research on the development of a new type of citrus tree that can fight off the HLB-spreading Asian citrus psyllid (ACP). The genetically modified tree has only been tested in the lab and the greenhouse, but the research looks promising.

The approach involves inserting a gene into a citrus tree that produces a protein that can kill young ACPs. That gene normally occurs in a soil-borne bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). The use of Bt has long been used in row crops like cotton and corn to protect against certain pests.

While the citrus Bt research is promising, the story was picked up by (non-agricultural) media and was portrayed as a “cure” for HLB that was right around the corner. Michael Rogers, director of the UF/IFAS Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred, Florida, addressed this during the January 2025 All In For Citrus podcast.

He wanted to set proper expectations about the Bt research and potential time frames. He noted, assuming that the research progressed well, it could be up to five to eight years before it could be available to growers.

“This looks great in the greenhouse, but we really need to get it out into the field to see how it does in real-world conditions,” Rogers said. “That’s what the researchers are doing right now, getting more plants into the field. And we’ll probably need at least three years of field data to show how these plants perform in terms of ACP control, how much HLB is reduced in the trees and if there is any resistance developing. And how do the plants perform (agronomically)?

“I say all this to be sure growers understand that this is not far enough along to be making business decisions on right now. But we want to be sure folks are aware the research is moving forward.”

Also in the January episode of All In For Citrus, UF/IFAS researchers who spoke during the recent Citrus Nutrition Day provide a recap of the event.

The podcast is a partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

There’s been much talk about the “tree of the future” in the Florida citrus industry. That’s a tree with the trifecta of HLB-resistance, great quality and strong yield. So far, that perfect combination has not been found. But the search is on.

This was a topic of discussion during the December episode of the All In For Citrus podcast. Michael Rogers, director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center, joins the episode to give an update on the progress being made toward a tree that has the necessary HLB tolerance to be a viable candidate to help turn the industry around.

Rogers discusses the conventional breeding efforts and work in gene editing and transgenics aimed at delivering a rootstock of variety tolerant or resistant to HLB. While progress is being made, he cautioned it is still some time yet before this research yields a tree that is commercially available to growers. But he added that getting new varieties to growers faster is understood, as evidenced by the way the research community is approaching the task.

John Chater, UF/IFAS assistant professor of horticultural sciences, also joins the podcast to discuss his collaborations with growers to evaluate varieties and rootstocks that have exhibited better tolerance to HLB. He commented on results of the recent Florida Citrus State of the Industry Survey conducted by Citrus Industry.

Also in the December podcast episode, Chris Oswalt, UF/IFAS citrus Extension agent, shares some tips to prepare for winter and the steps to take should freeze protection be necessary. His main take-home message is to have a plan and know exactly what you need to do when a freeze is forecast. Don’t want until to the day before to prepare.

The podcast is a partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

In November, academia from around the world gathered in Jeju, Korea, for the 2024 International Citrus Congress. A contingent of researchers from the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) attended the event.

Michael Rogers, director of the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center, was among the attendees. He discusses the trip in the November episode of the All In For Citrus podcast. Rogers describes citrus growing on the island of Jeju. There’s about 54,000 acres of citrus grown there with annual production of about 15 million boxes. There is no confirmed presence of HLB on the island.

HLB was a major topic of discussion during the event. Water availability was also a focus of the presentations. Many citrus production regions are facing water shortfalls. This is expected to get worse as the climate changes and more demand is put on water supplies.

Brazil is one of those regions dealing with water availability. The country’s last crop was reduced by about 20% due to drought stress. Brazil also has seen a spike in HLB infection rates, which is forcing growers to plant new groves north of the current main growing regions.

Mohammad Shahid, UF/IFAS assistant professor of horticulture, also joined the podcast to provide an update on the cold-hardy citrus region. Production continues to expand in the area with some 7,000 to 8,000 acres of citrus.

Also in the November episode, Flavia Zambon discusses a field day hosted at the UF/IFAS Indian River Research and Education Center in Fort Pierce, Florida. The field day featured a tour of the experimental Millennium Block, which is evaluating HLB tolerance of various rootstock/scion combinations. The block is one of the largest trials for HLB tolerance in grapefruit.