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Idle Citrus Groves Targeted as Growers Battle to Survive

Palm Beach Post – January 24, 2008

FORT PIERCE — Those abandoned citrus groves that can be seen up and down Interstate 95 in St. Lucie and Indian River counties aren’t just unsightly.

Commercial citrus growers consider such groves – which can be found throughout the state’s citrus-growing regions – a threat because the untended trees are breeding grounds for pests and diseases such as citrus canker and greening.

“What do we do next?” Rick Vachon, production manager at The Packers of Indian River in Fort Pierce, asked Wednesday at the Indian River Citrus Seminar. “It’s a huge issue if you are a commercial grower trying to make a living.”

Abandoned groves were just one of the problems discussed at the annual seminar, which continues today at the St. Lucie County Fairgrounds. About 500 people, including growers, researchers and industry officials, attended on Wednesday.

The state-federal canker eradication program ended two years ago this month, but the industry’s fight for survival continues as both canker and greening continue to spread.

The bacterial diseases have increased not only the headaches but the cost of doing business, as farmers face more frequent pesticide and copper spraying and higher prices for young trees.

Connie Riherd, assistant director of the Florida Department of Agriculture’s Division of Plant Industry, said it’s not known how many abandoned citrus groves exist in the state.

“This issue is a very complicated one,” she said. “The scope of the problem is very wide and very diverse.”

Riherd said an industry group had come up with a draft plan that would allow for voluntary removal of abandoned groves that pose a risk to active commercial citrus production. She estimated it would cost $350 an acre to remove them.

Funding is needed at the state or federal level before the Agriculture Department can begin removing abandoned groves, Riherd said.

More than 100 growers at the seminar indicated they want some type of program requiring the groves to be taken out.

Several estimated that St. Lucie County alone has “thousands of acres” of such groves, and Stan Carter, citrus division manager of McArthur Farms Inc. of Port St. Lucie, said an assessment is being done. “It’s changing every day,” Carter said.

Mike Sparks, chief executive officer of Florida Citrus Mutual in Lakeland, said that while support for abandoned grove removal is solid in the Indian River region, from Palm Beach to Volusia counties, elsewhere in the state many growers are against it. Some say they don’t want government telling grove owners what to do, he said.

Doug Bournique, executive vice president of the Indian River Citrus League, said he expects to begin working on a plan to deal with abandoned groves on a regional level beginning next week.

Lex Kromhout, owner of Vero Beach-based White Face Acres LLC, with 200 acres of groves, said he thinks the federal government should pay for removing the trees because Washington is responsible for protecting the nation’s borders.

“Growers are trying to stay in business,” Kromhout said. “Now he’s being asked to eliminate a grove he lost as a result of something that came in from another country.”

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