Ornamental Production and Landscape Field Day Last Day to Register is Tues 11/3/20

 What fungicides work best on viburnum diseases?  What is working good on whiteflies, mites, and thrips?  Is there a way we can project how the horticulture industry will be doing in Florida a year form now?  Join us on November 5th from 9-13:00 for a virtual field day and production update to find some of those answers.  4 CEUs will be offered (2 Core and 2 PRVT)  Get the latest informational updates from UF and industry to help you reduce the cost/risk of producing plants.  Check out the flyer below for more information and register today at bit.ly/36YaU3y for only $20.  There will be a separate landscaper track.  Last day to register is Tuesday November 3rd!

Caution with Identity Theft and PPP Loans

I recently spoke with a grower who is in the midst of trying to tackle the fallout of identity theft of his small business.  A lot of time is wasted trying to contact banking, government, and law enforcement institutions.  He was made aware of the issue when he received a notice of his loan payments being due to a loan he never took out.  After careful checking he found that a loan was indeed made in his business's name but he wasn't the recipient of the money.  Now he is trying to clear and clean up the mess.

There are reports of criminals taking advantage of the PPP loan program to either steal personal information and/or use information to take out loans.  Please be aware!  IF you get a notice of a loan payment due, don't disregard it and follow through to see if it is indeed real.

Here is an article from AARP outlining ways to protect yourself from this type of fraud.  https://www.aarp.org/work/small-business/info-2020/ppp-loans-scams-fraud.html

If you suspect a case of PPP fraud contact the SBA's Office of Inspector General online or at 800-767-0385.  You can also file a complaint with the FTC.

Ornamental Production Virtual Field Day Nov. 5th

Join us on November 5th from 9-13:00 for a virtual field day and production update.  4 CEUs will be offered (2 Core and 2 PRVT)  Get the latest informational updates from UF and industry to help you reduce the cost/risk of producing plants.  Check out the flyer below for more information and register today at bit.ly/36YaU3y for only $20.

Pest Alert Snout Scale

 This alert came in through FDACS.  The pictures at the end are a great resource for identifying scale insects.  Here is a link to the original posting.   https://www.fdacs.gov/content/download/93731/file/PEST-ALERT-Snout-Scale.pdf

Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 2 for Specialty Crops

 Producers can apply for benefits under CFAP 2 beginning September 21, 2020 to December 11, 2020. I have placed a link to the program announcement which contains application information, eligible commodities and other resources:  

Here is the announcement that you can review.

CFAP 2 Announcement

Here is a direct link to specialty crops included in CFAP 2, including potatoes, citrus and numerous other Florida crops below:

CFAP 2 Eligible Specialty Crops

Free COVID Testing for Farmworkers

Free testing for farmworkers is scheduled at the San Jose Mission, 13524 E. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Dover.  Here are the dates for testing being conducted from 5 to 8 pm.

Sept 30 (Wednesday)

Oct 1 (Thursday)

Oct 3 (Saturday)

Oct 7 (Wednesday)

Oct 8 (Thursday)

Oct 10 (Saturday)