SEBRING, Fla.<\/strong> \u2013 Members of the Florida Senate Agriculture Committee received a clear message from the Florida Citrus industry Thursday: further investment is needed to save the state\u2019s signature crop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re way past losing hobby growers at this point,\u201d said Adam Putnam, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture. \u201cWe are impacting the heart of the industry. That is why time is of the essence. This industry is too important to our state and too important to our nation to let it slip away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The industry is seeking $20 million from the state to fund further research toward a solution to the disease that has devastated production across the state. If realized, this season\u2019s forecast of 76.4 million boxes of oranges will be the lowest since 1964.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Committee members senators Bill Galvano, of Brandenton, and Denise Grimsley, of Sebring, as well as state Rep. Cary Pigman, of Avon Park, attended the hearing held in Sebring, where they heard from several members of the citrus industry as well as a panel of citrus growers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More than $176 million has been invested in greening research since 2008. About $71 million of that has been funded through taxes growers levied on themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When asked by Sen. Galvano what the industry has received in return for such a large investment, Lake Wales-based grower Marty McKenna summed it up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe got another year of this industry in Florida,\u201d McKenna said. \u201cWithout that money spent, we would\u2019ve been gone two to three years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tom Mitchell, of Riverfront Packing Company, added: \u201cROI? It\u2019s hard to make the numbers work. But, we see it daily in 125 employees who have given their lives to this industry. It\u2019s the jobs and the highest quality product for the world. The more you\u2019re removed, the harder it is to see the return on investment, but these are positive results.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mike Sparks, executive director of Florida Citrus Mutual, also stressed the importance of continued investments. The industry that provides $10 billion in economic impact and 62,000 jobs could lose $2 billion in impact and 20,000 jobs if this year\u2019s forecast plays out, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe cost of (greening research) is dwarfed by how much we could lose,\u201d Sparks said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Several research projects are in the pipeline that could have a large effect on the industry, said Dr. Harold Browning, of the Citrus Research and Development Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Three products designed to combat the bacteria spread by the Asian citrus psyllid are nearing approval by the Environmental Protection Agency and could be available to growers by spring, Browning said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Plans are also in place to further invest in abandoned grove programs and improve on current ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Grower McKenna, who also serves as chair of the Florida Citrus Commission, requested legislators also consider supporting the industry\u2019s marketing efforts through further funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As production has declined so has the amount of money available to sustain the market, McKenna said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor 70 years growers have funded marketing and made orange juice America\u2019s favorite fruit juice,\u201d McKenna said. \u201cWhen the greening research is successful, we are going to need to still have a market.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Shannon Shepp, executive director of the Florida Department of Citrus, \u201cthe symbolism of the Committee\u2019s visit to citrus country was not lost on the growers. Our industry is doing all it can, and today\u2019s meeting sent the message that our growers\u2019 work is not in vain.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The industry is seeking $20 million from the state to fund further research SEBRING, Fla. \u2013 Members of the Florida Senate Agriculture Committee received a clear message from the Florida […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":319,"template":"","fdoc_news_item_category":[81,106,82,100],"fdoc_citrus_type":[110,107],"fdoc_health_category":[],"class_list":["post-4225","fdoc-news-item","type-fdoc-news-item","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","fdoc_news_item_category-budget","fdoc_news_item_category-citrus-greening","fdoc_news_item_category-commissioner-notes","fdoc_news_item_category-industry","fdoc_citrus_type-grapefruit","fdoc_citrus_type-orange"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.floridacitrus.org\/grower\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fdoc-news-item\/4225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.floridacitrus.org\/grower\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fdoc-news-item"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.floridacitrus.org\/grower\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/fdoc-news-item"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.floridacitrus.org\/grower\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.floridacitrus.org\/grower\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"fdoc_news_item_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.floridacitrus.org\/grower\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fdoc_news_item_category?post=4225"},{"taxonomy":"fdoc_citrus_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.floridacitrus.org\/grower\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fdoc_citrus_type?post=4225"},{"taxonomy":"fdoc_health_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.floridacitrus.org\/grower\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fdoc_health_category?post=4225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}