The following appeared as a guest editorial in publications\u00a0across Florida.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n BARTOW \u2013 I write to express deep appreciation to some extraordinary Floridians who have \u201cchanged the game\u201d for Florida\u2019s most iconic product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When the President recently signed the\u00a0Farm Bill<\/a>, he validated the hard work of many, many producers around the country. However, Florida came out a particular winner because of the leadership of U.S. Senator\u00a0Bill Nelson\u00a0<\/a>and U.S. Representatives\u00a0Dennis Ross\u00a0<\/a>(FL-15),\u00a0Tom Rooney<\/a>\u00a0(FL-17),\u00a0Vern Buchanan\u00a0<\/a>(FL-16) and\u00a0Steve Southerland\u00a0<\/a>(FL-02), and Florida\u2019s Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services,\u00a0Adam Putnam<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those Congressional leaders, at the urging of stakeholders such as\u00a0Florida Citrus Mutual<\/a>, under the able leadership of Mike Sparks, and citrus growers and supporters across the state, secured $125 million in game-changing research to fight citrus greening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those visionary leaders understood the profound value of Florida oranges, and we owe them our deepest gratitude for translating vision into action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For too long, Florida growers, working closely with the Florida Department of Citrus, the\u00a0Citrus Research and Development Foundation<\/a>, the\u00a0Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services\u00a0<\/a>and many other organizations, have been fighting valiantly against greening with little notice from the nation\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In waging that lonely fight, Florida\u2019s citrus industry has shown what makes us \u2013 and our nation \u2013 great: courage, innovation, vision and hard work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now we will add a new wave of cutting-edge, urgent research to the mix. The game has changed. America is united, and we stand ready to take on the day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Florida Citrus Commission chairman Marty McKenna praises U.S. Farm Bill and those who made it happen. The following appeared as a guest editorial in publications\u00a0across Florida. BARTOW \u2013 I write […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","fdoc_news_item_category":[82,80,100,101],"fdoc_citrus_type":[107,108],"fdoc_health_category":[],"class_list":["post-4074","fdoc-news-item","type-fdoc-news-item","status-publish","hentry","fdoc_news_item_category-commissioner-notes","fdoc_news_item_category-fdoc","fdoc_news_item_category-industry","fdoc_news_item_category-orange-production","fdoc_citrus_type-orange","fdoc_citrus_type-orange-juice"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t