UF Grant to Combat Avocado Disease and Small Family Farms Rule
From the Ag Information Network, this is your Agribusiness Update.**Scientists with the University of Florida have secured a $5 million grant from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to combat the lethal Laurel wilt disease and the redbay ambrosia beetles responsible for it.
www.morningagclips.com reports the research aims to improve control and mitigation practices for avocado production in Florida.
This initiative is poised to extend avocado cultivation beyond Miami-Dade County, fostering growth and sustainability beyond Florida’s avocado production industry.
www.morningagclips.com/uf-ifas-secures-5m-grant-to-expand-
avocado-production/
**Farm labor has been an ongoing issue for the ag industry.
With Republicans in control of both the House and Senate beginning next month and President Trump returning to the
White House, American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall says he’ll be pushing lawmakers next year to revise the H-2A Visa program.
The problem is the H-2A program has not been modernized since 1986.
**The USDA’s Economic Research Service’s 2024 America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance says 86% of U.S. farms are small family farms.
These farms operate on 41% of U.S. ag land and account for 17% of the total value of American production.
Large-scale family farms account for 48% of the total production value and 31% of ag land.
In total, family farms account for about 96% of farms and 83% of the production.