Citrus industry down but not out

The citrus greening disease that kills trees but first slashes fruit yields hasn't been conquered. Neither has canker and a host of other pests and diseases.

Still, commercial citrus growers and people in related fields aren't giving up on a $9-billion-a-year Florida industry that supports an estimated 76,000 jobs.

This year they've attracted more federal and state research dollars for fighting their biggest nemesis: greening, also called HLB.

Since first detected nine years ago in Miami-Dade County, greening has been found in every citrus-producing county in Florida, as well as in portions of Texas and Louisiana.

Until HLB-resistant varieties can be developed, growers are concentrating on keeping infected trees as robust as possible.

That's a major driver for the annual Citrus Expo seminar and trade show beginning today at Lee Civic Center in North Fort Myers. It's expected to attract at least 2,000 industry members over the next two days.

Top of mind for growers: Boosting yields of usable fruit even as the greening fight goes on.

"We've got to have enough product to make our major juice producers a profit or they'll pull out — and the industry collapses," said Norman Todd, a citrus grower and consultant for more than 50 years.

Such a debacle doesn't look imminent. Last year the Coca-Cola Co. committed $2 billion to support planting of 25,000 acres of new orange groves in Florida. For Duda Ranches' LaBelle properties, a portion of that investment will bring 2,900 acres of new plantings of oranges for the juice market.

"In a separate undertaking, we have begun filling in empty spaces in our existing 8,000 acres of juice and fresh (fruit) varieties," said Rob Atchley, Duda general manager for citrus groves in Florida and Texas.

Todd himself "is optimistic we'll survive greening, although it will be difficult and costly."

Helping out: The farm bill President Barack Obama signed into law early February gives a $125 million emergency allocation over five years for studies into stopping the greening disease.

The $77 million budget Gov. Rick Scott signed this spring pledges about $3.5 million for pest and disease control.

And in June, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced another $6.5 million for three Florida projects aimed at fighting greening.

Through taxing themselves on the number of boxes of fruit harvested, Florida citrus growers have invested some $70 million into greening research over the past five years, said Wayne Simmons, head of LaBelle Fruit Co. and president of Gulf Citrus Growers Association.

"There's no quick and easy fix," Simmons said, adding: "We're closer than we were five years ago."