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UF students successful in citrus industry

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Contributed by: Robin Koestoyo on 9/14/2007

Each morning Cody Hoffman and Zach Langford start their workdays in the composed, crew-cut repeated rows of citrus trees. Among the trees and the groves' grassy alleys, where the hues of green are many, they greet deer and groups of many bird species as they work their way through fresh spider webs strung up overnight. Within their workspace, one could well understand their beliefs that the Indian River region citrus industry is here to stay.

Hoffman, 23, and Langford, 24, have parallel career interests, since they became friends as young boys. The two Port St. Lucie residents started working in agriculture as teens in their native Winter Garden, Fla. There, Langford's first job was on a fern farm; Hoffman's, at a fertilizer plant. During summers they both worked for agricultural chemical manufacturers. Following high school they moved on to attend Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, Georgia and then to Indian River Community College in Fort Pierce. While attending college, they worked together for Lambeth Groves, shipping fresh orange juice. Today, they will soon graduate with University of Florida bachelor's degrees, as they serve internships for Syngenta Crop Protection, a prestigious national agricultural pest control firm.

In mid-August Hoffman and Langford will graduate the UF Indian River Research and Education Center, both with Bachelor of Science degrees in Agribusiness Management. The pair were distinguished students, having garnered multiple scholarships and excellent grades.

Cody Hoffman and Zach Langford possess the best qualities of UF students: self-discipline, commitment, and a respectful eagerness to learn. These qualities enabled Cody and Zach to be good students. The same qualities will help them be successful as they develop their careers.

With Syngenta, together Langford and Hoffman care for about 4,000 acres of citrus groves in Indian River and St. Lucie counties. In the groves they work as mite scouters and they collect soil samples. Hoffman said their main task is to scout for rust mites before and after sprayings of Syngenta-produced Agrimek, a miticide that protects grapefruit from mites.

"We're making sure the product Agrimek is keeping its promise to growers, which is guaranteed by Syngenta to control rust mites," he said. "In addition, we keep a watchful eye out for many other mites, insects, diseases and weeds that can hinder citrus production."

And according to Premier Citrus Inc. Grove Supervisor Ed Jarvis, the interns are a valuable asset to the local industry. While the two perform customer service tasks for Syngenta, they also have an opportunity to monitor groves for the company's customers, who are among the Indian River region's largest citrus producers.

"We would like to have the time to check all of the thousands of acres of trees in all of our company's groves every day and the interns are helping us to accomplish this very important part of grove management," said Jarvis.

Langford said he and Hoffman use mite lenses, similar to magnifying glasses, to examine fresh fruit on thousands of trees daily. They then record data onto a Personal Digital Assistant, or a hand-held PDA to quantify their findings, which are then provided to growers who use Agrimek on a bi-weekly basis. Soil samples they take are provided to Syngenta laboratory technicians for analysis. Their offices are within their company vehicles as they spend nearly their entire workdays in citrus groves.

"We hired Cody recently for a full-time position with Syngenta upon his merit," said John Taylor, technical support representative for Syngenta and head of the Florida-based internship program. "Zach is doing exceptionally well and is mulling over job opportunities. He's got three different people who have expressed an interest in bringing him onboard," said Taylor.

Taylor described the internship program and subsequent externship-training program as innovative. Part of the internship program includes a 15-minute presentation before the company's top management team. Interns are recruited for the externship program that Cody will soon join. He will be cross-trained in many company service aspects and placed nationwide where he will gain knowledge and skills in a wide range of crop protection and pest management techniques.

Another aspect of Florida agriculture Hoffman and Langford share is their perception of an enduring citrus industry along the Indian River district. Langford noted that although the citrus industry has experienced a lot of changes and crises, a lot of citrus acreage remains in the region.

"The citrus industry will be here for a long time in one form or another," said Hoffman. "The groves that are doing the best are those that are isolated from other groves and development too. Those groves are safe from viruses and diseases. It's good management practices that have let the best growers stay in business and they're doing well."

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