Fillets by the gallon bucket? Ice chests full of fish? A fish fry to feed the neighborhood? There aren't many species of fish left in Florida that permit such prodigious harvests, but the black crappie, also called speckled perch, is one. And December through April is speck time. ...more

December 14, 2008

Inflation is running at the fastest pace in 17 years, the job market is under further strain and foreclosure filings are surging. ...more

August 15, 2008

ATLANTA (AP) - A federal appeals court on Friday overturned a key section of a ruling that a Florida tomato grower failed to provide adequate housing for migrant workers. ...more

August 10, 2008

Now that Sen. Barack Obama finally found a little time to campaign in Florida, there's much he needs to say that Florida hasn't heard. ...more

May 21, 2008

California's big reds are coming on strong these days as winemakers pursue riper, fuller-flavored fruit. ...more

February 22, 2008

AVON PARK — An additional 20 to 25 workers will be unemployed by Jan. 31 as Cargill Juice North America exits the citrus processing business in Florida. The company announced plans in August to close the Avon Park and Frostproof plants. "It's interesting," said Tom Abrahamson, president. "When we decided to shut down the plants for good, we said at the time that we still had inventories of juice, and we estimated they would last until December 2008." ...more

December 23, 2007

The Chesapeake Bay's famous blue crabs - feisty crustaceans that are both a regional symbol and a multimillion-dollar catch - are hovering at historically low population levels, scientists say, as pollution, climate change and overfishing threaten the bay's ultimate survivor. ...more

November 18, 2007

SEBRING –– Santos Guadalupe De La Rosa likes to say that farm work is his college education. If that's so, then his education started when he was 7 years old and continues until today as a farm worker specialist for the Florida Non-Profit Housing in Sebring. De La Rosa's family members were all migrant workers. His parents, aunts, grandfather –– the whole clan –– traveled together like gypsies to wherever there was something ready to pick. At age 5, De La Rosa was babysat by his 9 - and 11-year-old sisters. By the time he was 7, he was working alongside his family in the field and traveling the crop circuit. The family was based in the Texas border town of Mercedes, in the Rio Grande Valley. ...more

October 1, 2007

Although a local farmer also grows citrus and caladiums, the family-run business is bucking the trend and sells persimmon fruit nationwide. ...more

September 16, 2007

Dozens of dead orange trees lay stacked here among vast green rows of grove. ...more

September 10, 2007