Tag: Doug Phillips

Blueberries: A healthy, tasty snack from Florida farmers

by Brad Buck
March 19, 2025

As we head into the heart of Florida blueberry harvest season – March through May -- growers are shipping the fruit to market to meet statewide and national consumer demand. You can find Florida-grown berries in stores, farmer’s markets ... READ MORE

Category: Agribusiness, Health & Nutrition
Tags: Anthocyanin, Blueberry Breeding Program, Blueberry Season, Consumers, Doug Phillips, Grocery Stores, Growers, Harvest, Horticultural Sciences, Joshua Payne, Nutrition, Patricio Munoz, Registered Dietitian, Snack, Statewide Blueberry Extension Coordinator, U-pick, UF/IFAS Extension Hillsborough County

Power through July, aka National Blueberry Month

by Brad Buck
July 17, 2024

As we celebrate National Blueberry Month in July, a University of Florida dietitian says the fruit could be called “power berries.” “Blueberries have fiber, vitamin C, vitamin K, manganese and potassium, and they have some of the highest ... READ MORE

Category: Health & Nutrition, UF/IFAS
Tags: Andrea Nikolai, Antioxidants, Breeder, Breeding, Cutlivars, Doug Phillips, National Blueberry Month, Nutrition, Patricio Munoz, Southern Highbush Blueberry, Statewide Blueberry Extension Coordinator, UF/IFAS Extension Polk County

Florida’s blueberry season means yummy fruit, courtesy of UF/IFAS and growers

by Brad Buck
March 27, 2024

Ready to pick your own blueberries or buy them at the grocery store? Florida’s blueberry season is here, so you’ll likely find a University of Florida variety near you. When you go to the supermarket, you won’t find blueberries labeled ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture
Tags: 'Albus', 'Sentinel', Blueberries, Blueberry Season, Cutlivars, Doug Phillips, Flavors, Growers, Patricio Munoz, UF Sensory Lab

From U-pick to the grocery store, Florida’s blueberries make for a tasty treat

by Brad Buck
March 23, 2023

As we enter the heart of Florida’s blueberry harvesting season, you can now enjoy the yummy fresh fruit during its finest hours, say University of Florida experts. For about 80 years, many Florida-grown blueberries have been developed ... READ MORE

Category: UF/IFAS
Tags: Blueberries, Blueberry Season, Doug Phillips, Genetics, Grocery Store, Harvest, Horticultural Sciences, Patricio Munoz, Taste Panels, U-pick, UF/IFAS Plant Breeding

UF-developed web-based tool helps blueberry growers control disease

by Brad Buck
August 16, 2022

Anthracnose fruit rot plagues blueberries, especially in Florida. In fact, it’s among the fruit’s most damaging diseases. To manage the disease, farmers normally spray the crop with fungicides, but on a calendar basis – in other words, ... READ MORE

Category: Agribusiness, UF/IFAS
Tags: Anthracnose Fruit Rot, Blueberries, Blueberry Advisory System, Doug Phillips, Fungicide, Growers, Gulf Coast Research And Education Center, Natalia Peres, Plant Pathology, Text Alerts, Web Tool

Spanish version available for UF/IFAS Blueberry Growers Guide app

by Brad Buck
March 30, 2022

UF/IFAS has just released a Spanish-language version to the UF/IFAS Blueberry Growers Guide app. You can download the app on iOS or Android. Users will be able to choose between English and Spanish when using the app by selecting “language” ... READ MORE

Category: UF/IFAS
Tags: Android, Blueberry Extension, Blueberry Growers Guide App, Calendar Management, Cultivars, Damage, Doug Phillips, IOS, Spanish

Florida blueberry season: Top-notch fruit, tools and knowledge from UF/IFAS research

by Brad Buck
March 30, 2022

March brings the start of Florida’s blueberry production, harvest and shipping season. The state’s blueberry industry has grown rapidly in the past 20 years. Today, Florida farmers grow more than 5,200 acres of blueberries, producing about ... READ MORE

Category: UF/IFAS
Tags: 'Arcadia', 'Sentinel', Blueberries, Blueberry Growers Guide App, Blueberry Season, Breeding, Cultivars, Doug Phillips, Horticultural Sciences, Patricio Munoz, Production

Florida blueberry growers part of national survey on pollinator use

by Brad Buck
July 22, 2021

It’s National Blueberry Month, a time to savor the fruit’s flavor, reap its health benefits -- including fiber and vitamins C and K -- and appreciate how it grows. For example, most blueberry farmers use pollinators, such as bees, to help ... READ MORE

Category: Crops, Farm Management
Tags: Blueberries, Bumble Bees, Doug Phillips, Entomology, Growers, Honeybees, Pollinators, Rachel Mallinger, Survey, Usda

UF/IFAS develops blueberry cultivar selection tool for Florida growers

by Brad Buck
May 25, 2021

As growers wind down this year’s Florida blueberry season, they can look to a new UF/IFAS tool to help them decide whether to remove any existing blueberry cultivars and/or plant new ones. The UF/IFAS blueberry breeding program has developed ... READ MORE

Category: Agribusiness, Agriculture
Tags: App, Blueberries, Cultivar, Disease, Doug Phillips, Gulf Coast Research And Education Center, Horticultural Sciences, Machine Harvesting, Module, Patricio Munoz, Pests, Resistance

UF/IFAS-developed blueberry app to help growers battle diseases and pests

by Brad Buck
December 9, 2020

A new University of Florida app will help the state’s blueberry growers identify and manage disease and insect injuries commonly encountered in Florida before their crop is ruined. Collectively, blueberries are a $60 million-per-year crop ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Pests & Disease, SFYL Hot Topic
Tags: App, Blueberries, Disease, Doug Phillips, Gulf Coast Research And Education Center, Horticultural Sciences, Jeff Williamson, Nutrients, Oscar Liburd, Patricio Munoz, Pests, Peter Dittmar, Phil Harmon, UF/IFAS Blueberry Growers Guide

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