Agricultural Policy Outlook Conference Looks at the Environment and Economics

By Maegan Beatty In March, the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Food and Resource Economics Department hosted the 8th Annual Florida Agricultural Policy Outlook Conference both in person and via Zoom. The afternoon breakout session focused on economic and environmental concerns. The speakers included:  Olesya Savachenko, Tara Wade and Weizhe Weng. GROWER ADOPTION OF BMPs …

Ecosystem Services Move Forward in Florida

By Frank Giles Farming has never been an easy profession, but the past few years have placed even bigger burdens on the job. The pandemic, supply-chain disruptions, inflation and extreme weather events have all placed additional challenges on profitability. Even before the pandemic, a group of growers in Florida began recognizing challenges to their sustainability was a larger discussion than …

Florida Gulf Coast University Introduces Agricultural and Water Education

By Frank Giles While the land-grant universities come to mind first when it comes to agriculture, other schools are serving the farm sector as well. Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) in Fort Myers is one of those schools and is focused on the business side of agriculture. FGCU has its agricultural credentials based on a farming enterprise with deep roots …

New Certificate in Fertilizer Science and Technology Offered by UF/IFAS

By Clint Thompson The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) is offering a new academic program that will enhance students’ knowledge of fertilizer applications and enable them to apply fertilizers more efficiently to their specialty crops. The program is called the UF/IFAS Fertilizer Science and Technology Graduate Certificate. The formal certificate will be available starting in …

International Trade Commission Clears Way for Fertilizers

By Frank Giles The International Trade Commission (ITC) recently ruled against imposing tariffs on nitrogen fertilizers imported from Russia and Trinidad and Tobago. The panel’s ruling found that imports from those countries did not hurt American producers of fertilizer. The ITC ruling removed anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties of up to 132% on urea nitrate fertilizers from Russia. Duties of 113% …