The Florida citrus industry is united and focused on replanting and rebuilding.
At the risk of sounding cliché about the general feeling that’s electrified the Florida citrus industry lately, I have to say, there’s no “I” in team. In fact, here lately, we’ve all been putting to action the “us” in Florida Citrus. What I mean by that is, there’s not one facet of our industry that hasn’t been all hands on deck to make amazing things happen ahead of the harvest season. And these things will have beneficial ripple effects for years to come.
These past few months we’ve seen a lot come to fruition— things we’ve been working on for years. And I use the term “we” very literally here. The FCC along with the FDOC have been working tirelessly with our partners at Florida Citrus Mutual, the Florida Citrus Processors Association, the Citrus Research and Field Trial Foundation, the Citrus Research and Development Foundation, the New Varieties Development and Management Corporation, FDACS and more (I could keep going) to bring about the changes we saw in recent months.
When it comes to citrus greening, all of us have felt its weight. All of us have been impacted. And, all of us have done some heavy lifting to fight back. While the fight to overcome HLB is far from over, we’re each committed for the long term, not only to survive but thrive— to replant and rebuild. Now is the time to look ahead, take action and plant trees that will bring a more bountiful harvest in years to come.
I encourage you— as a grower or any contributor or allied partner to the industry— to be engaged and do your part. Become involved, stay informed, exchange information and seek ways to further collaborate— because working together will continue to create our success.
If you weren’t able to join our telephonic FCC Meeting yesterday, we’ve covered some more important ground in a short time. I want to thank all the folks who are willing to volunteer their time outside of their day jobs and tireless work in the groves to be present on important committees or boards. Your active involvement will continue to help the Florida citrus industry recover and thrive. Les Dunson is going to be the new chairman of the Processing Statistics Reporting Advisory Committee and Bill Bohde is being appointed to the CRDF board of directors.
For a full summary yesterday’s meeting, you can go to our growers’ industry website at FDOCgrower.com. Stay tuned for an update on the Program for Expedited Propagation (PEP) 2025-26.
Our next FCC Meeting will be held on October 22 at 9:00 a.m. at our Bartow headquarters.
Steve Johnson is Chairman of the Florida Citrus Commission, which oversees the Florida Department of Citrus. He is the owner and general manager of Johnson Harvesting, Inc., based in Wauchula, FL.