This column originally appeared in the Indian River Citrus League\u2019s<\/a> newsletter, River Ramblings.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n VERO BEACH, Fla. \u2013 Even though the industry faced challenges in 2013-2014 season there were some major accomplishments impacting our Indian River growing region that were achieved, and several of the successes impacted the citrus industry as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The major highlight was the approval of the state legislative appropriations request of $3.5 million\u00a0for HLB research. This all came about with a visit from Governor Scott<\/a> in May of 2012 to the Indian\u00a0River citrus growing region for one of his work days. Many groups and individuals helped to make\u00a0this a reality including Senator Joe Negron<\/a>, House members Steve Crisafulli<\/a> and Ben Albritton<\/a>,\u00a0Commissioner Adam Putnam<\/a> and Mike Sparks of Florida Citrus Mutual<\/a>. The money will be available\u00a0for research on July 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In November, in an effort to help its grower members and the industry with building grapefruit juice\u00a0inventories, the League pursued a red grapefruit juice purchase by the USDA<\/a>. On January 31, 2014,\u00a0it was announced that the USDA plans to purchase bottled grapefruit juice for its domestic food\u00a0nutrition assistance programs. This purchase of $9.5 million should ease grapefruit juice inventories\u00a0and provide relief to the growers. This is the largest grapefruit juice purchase in history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Going on behind the scenes in the research arena, the League was successful in obtaining a three-year\u00a0study headed up by Dr. Tim Gottwald of USDA\/ARS<\/a>. This $860,040 TASC grant through USDA\/FAS<\/a> is\u00a0entirely focused on the assessment of the Viability of Black Spot-blemished citrus fruit as a\u00a0pathway for disease dispersal via domestic and international trade, and an assessment\u00a0of methods to mitigate any risk of disease spread on harvested fruit. The project has\u00a0just entered into its third year of funding. The League and Florida Citrus Packers have also applied for a TASC grant for the Assessment of the Efficacy of decontamination of Surface\u00a0Microbial Contaminates on citrus fruit during packinghouse processing. This request is for $297,969\u00a0over a two-year period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To ensure that growers have options for their unused land, the League has pursued water farming as a\u00a0possible alternative for growers. This past year focused on necessary legislation that sets the tax rate\u00a0on land utilized for water farming and legislation that urges DEP to expand its scope to include water\u00a0farming (SB 536<\/a> and HB 601<\/a>). These two legislative bills pave the way for all ag land owners in the\u00a0state to protect a valuable resource.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2014 Florida Citrus Show held in January in Ft. Pierce at the Fenn Center was another successful event.\u00a0Produce marketing tips and insect and disease management strategies were the focus of the show.\u00a0Kicking off the show was the Indian River Citrus League Golf Tournament and Banquet held at The\u00a0Club at Pointe in Vero Beach. The banquet has grown to include sponsorships and the attendance\u00a0continues to grow. The event allows growers and members to network and features a guest speaker\u00a0as well as honoring a Legend of the River.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The new and improved River Ramblings continues to incorporate more advertisers and an updated\u00a0look. It continues to feature articles impacting the industry and has been well received by the readers.\u00a0Knowing of the tough economic times that River growers are facing, the League is working hard to\u00a0reduce its operating expenses and increase the value of the growers\u2019 investment in the League.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" To ensure that growers have options for their unused land, the League has pursued water farming as a possible alternative for growers. 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