Category: Crops

The New Face of Florida Farm Workers – Robots

by ccooley
March 26, 2020

Migrant workers have long been the greatest asset to Florida growers. Without their hard work and dedication, growers would be unable to feed our nation. However, as immigration laws become more strict, the migrant worker pool has dwindled, ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, , Crops, Farm Management, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: AI, Artificial Intelligence, Low Compact Tomato Plants, Pest Management, Precision Agriculture, Robotics, Robots, Smart Sprayer, Thorvald, UV Lighting, Weed Control

COVID-19 and UF/IFAS Extension

by Nick Place
March 15, 2020

Updated 03/15/20 As we continue to monitor COVID-19 in Florida, I wanted to take a moment to update our UF/IFAS Extension community about our current status, best practices and next steps. The personal health and safety of everyone in the ... READ MORE

Category: 4-H & Youth, Agribusiness, Agriculture, Camp, Clubs & Volunteers, Coasts & Marine, Community Volunteers, Conservation, Crops, Curriculum, Disaster Preparation, Events, Farm Management, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Food Safety, Forests, Fruits & Vegetables, Health & Nutrition, Home Landscapes, Home Management, Horticulture, Invasive Species, Lawn, Livestock, Money Matters, Natural Resources, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, Professional Development, Recreation, Relationships & Family, SFYL Hot Topic, Turf, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, UF/IFAS Research, UF/IFAS Teaching, , Water, Wildlife, Work & Life
Tags: Covid-19, Featured Hot Topic, Hot Topic

Florida Ag Expo Promotes Alternative Crops for Florida Growers

by ccooley
November 15, 2016

Blackberries, hops, pomegranates and more were highlighted at our recent Florida Ag Expo with a focus on providing alternative crops for central Florida growers. With the citrus greening issues nearly devastating Florida's top crop in recent ... READ MORE

Category: Agribusiness, Agriculture, Crops, Events, Farm Management, Fruits & Vegetables, Horticulture, Research, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension

It’s Strawberry Planting Time at GCREC

by ccooley
September 19, 2016

Now that fall has arrived, the farm crew, faculty and staff of our strawberry program are hard at work preparing for another strawberry season in central Florida. It's one of the highlights of the year for our center when we get those bare ... READ MORE

Category: Agribusiness, Agriculture, , Crops, Fruits & Vegetables, Horticulture, Research, UF/IFAS

Creating Kid Locavores

by ccooley
June 24, 2016

One of the best part of my job at GCREC is hosting tour groups from local schools. We recently had the opportunity to entertain a group of 45 STEM students from a local school, R. Bruce Wagner, and we introduced them to something new called ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Crops, Events, Fruits & Vegetables, Horticulture, UF/IFAS
Tags: Blueberries, Elementary School Kids, Farmers Markets, Fruits And Vegeables, Gulf Coast Research Center, Locavores, Produce, Strawberries, Student, UF/IFAS

GCREC Bug Week 2016

by ccooley
May 23, 2016

For the past month, I have asked our staff to bring me whatever bugs they might find on our 475-acre farm. This is a very busy time for our faculty and staff, so I only received a few specimens so far, but they are beauties. There's nothing ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Crops, Events, Farm Management, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, Wildlife
Tags: Bagmoth, Bug Week 2016, Bugs, Dragonfly, Entomology, Gulf Coast REC, Horsefly, IFAS, Insects, Mole Crickets, Pests, UF

Birdwatching on the Farm

by ccooley
April 26, 2016

We had a recent employee, Bill Dermott, who upon his departure gave me a list of all the birds he had observed at our research center over the last 6 months or so. We're talking about 80 different kinds of birds. This list consisted of the ... READ MORE

Category: Academics, Agribusiness, Agriculture, Crops, Farm Management, Horticulture, Natural Resources, Research, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, Wildlife
Tags: Alligators, Bird Watching, Florida Wild Life, Gulf Coast Research, Hawks, IFAS, Sandhill Cranes, Southern Hillsborough County, University Of Florida

Florida Grown Hops – Alternative Crop for the Future? Well, Maybe.

by ccooley
April 6, 2016

There has been a lot of media attention regarding the possibility of a new alternative crop for Florida growers - hops. Hops are the buds or flowers of the hop plant. Used as a flavoring and stability agent in beer, hops can give this popular ... READ MORE

Category: Agribusiness, Agriculture, Crops, Horticulture, Research, UF/IFAS
Tags: Agriculture, Alternative Crops, Craft Beer, Farm To Table, Florida Crops, Hops

2016 Strawberry Field Day

by ccooley
January 25, 2016

Although Gulf Coast Research Center is located in southern Hillsborough County, we found from past experience that strawberry growers tend to feel the center is a little removed from the action, which is located in Plant City. Therefore, in ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, , Crops, Events, Horticulture, Pests & Disease, Research, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Disease Control, Dover, Florida Strawberries, Florida Strawberry Growers Association, Gulf Coast Research, Labor Issues, Molecular Breeding, Nematode Control, Pest Control, Plant City Strawberries, Strawberry Breeding, Strawberry Growers, Strawberry Varieties, Weed Control

GCREC Says Goodbye to the Colorado Summer Nursery

by ccooley
November 5, 2015

Because Florida summers make it nearly impossible to grow strawberry plants outdoors, we send thousands of seedlings from our breeding program west to cooler more temperate climates for the summer. Our strawberry breeding team works year round ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Crops, Farm Management, Fruits & Vegetables, Horticulture, Research, UF/IFAS
Tags: Breeding Stock, Colorado State University, GCREC Strawberry Breeding, Strawberry, Summer Nursery

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