Florida Citrus: Short-Term Survival vs. Long-Term Sustainability

The future of Florida’s citrus industry rests on short-term survival while building a future that does not include citrus greening disease.

Rick Dantzler, Citrus Research and Development Foundation chief operating officer, spoke at this year’s Georgia Citrus Association annual meeting in Tifton. He emphasized that while tools like oxytetracycline (OTC) provide growers relief, its long-term effectiveness is not guaranteed. Therefore, a permanent solution is required for the industry to have a sustainable future.

“The oxytetracycline therapy is going to buy us another few years, but sooner or later, that (HLB) bacterium is going to become resistant to OTC. We’re going to have to have something to take its place,” Dantzler said. “I hope it’s going to be a resistant tree. That’s my goal. We know we have some more tolerant varieties now, but sooner or later, the disease is probably going to cause those new things to succumb.”

But how many Florida citrus growers are going to be left to benefit from a potential HLB-resistant tree? Alico Inc., one of the biggest orange producers in the United States, announced earlier this year it would exit the citrus industry amid declining production from citrus greening and recent hurricanes.

“Alico leaving the industry was a body blow, there’s no question about that. But as I tell growers who call me all the time and say, ‘Tell me why I should stay in this industry,’ I go through the science and explain why I think we’ll have a solution sooner than later,” Dantzler said. “I encourage them, even if you have to quit growing citrus, if you own your land, don’t sell your land. You can get back in at a later date. Those that still have debt on their land and are making payments, that’s a horse of a different color. I get all of that.”

Dantzler said industry leaders are trying to make changes to the farm bill by extending the Conservation Reserve Program that the Farm Service Agency administers to citrus groves. It would allow growers to hold on to land without feeling as if they have to sell it.

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