On Monday, members of the Florida congressional delegation from both parties teamed up to urge more funding to combat citrus greening.
Currently, President Barack Obama’s proposal to send $7 million for the Huanglongbing Multiagency Coordination Group (HLB-MAC) is gaining little momentum on Capitol Hill. The U.S. House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee has proposed sending $2 million to HLB-MAC while the U.S. Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee does not fund it in its current proposals.
More than 20 members of Congress sent a letter to U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Mary., the ranking Democrat on the committee, asking for the Senate to at least match the House’s funding proposal. Copies of the letter were sent to U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Ks., the chair of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, and U.S. Jeff Merkley, D-Oreg., the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee.
Organized by U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Fla., the members of the House insisted HLB-MAC is a “vital lifeline to the citrus industry.” Florida Republican U.S. Reps. Vern Buchanan, Curt Clawson, Ander Crenshaw, Carlos Curbelo, Ron DeSantis, Mario Diaz-Balart, Rich Nugent, Bill Posey, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Dennis Ross and Ted Yoho signed the letter. So did Florida Democrats U.S. Reps. Lois Frankel, Alan Grayson, Alcee Hastings, Patrick Murphy and Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
The representatives wrote the following:
Huanglongbing (HLB), also known as citrus greening disease, is a bacterial plant disease that is fatal for citrus trees and destroys their production, appearance and economic value. Florida has been battling HLB for many years, and recent crop reports indicate citrus greening has been the primary cause of a 30 percent decrease in citrus production over the past 11 years. Worse, the USDA’s most recent economic estimates predict that the upcoming 2016 season’s yield will be its lowest in 50 years, at approximately 80 million boxes. To put this precipitous drop in perspective, total citrus production in 2013 was 156 million boxes. That’s nearly a 50 percent reduction in Florida’s citrus production in just the past two years alone.
Unfortunately, this disease is not limited to the state of Florida. In recent years, HLB has spread to Texas, damaging significant portions of their grapefruit and orange industry. The disease’s vector, the Asian citrus psyllid, has already been detected in California. Together the three states’ citrus industries comprise over $11 billion in economic activity—all of which is threatened unless we can find a cure for HLB in the coming years.
The 2014 Farm Bill realized the necessary role of the USDA in finding a cure for citrus greening disease and authorized investments in both short and long-term research programs, which were fully funded in the agriculture appropriations bills that followed. We are requesting your support for this limited, yet extremely crucial funding to be included in the FY16 Agriculture Appropriations bill.
Working collaboratively across the industry, the HLB-MAC ensures scarce federal, state, and industry funds are allocated without duplication and to those projects with the highest likelihood of developing a cure for this devastating disease. The HLB-MAC is the only dedicated funding source that supports the development of short-term solutions that, to-date, have been incredibly successful in providing immediate relief to the citrus industry. Helping growers explore new possible solutions while they mitigate the damage of this disease, the HLB-MAC has been incredibly popular and effective, in spite of its limited personnel and funding.
The President’s budget request included $7 million in funding for the HLB-MAC. While the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee allocated $2 million for the HLB-MAC, it is our understanding that the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee did not include any funding for this program in their FY16 bill. We respectfully ask that the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee support, at a minimum, the House-recommended funding level for the HLB-MAC in any negotiated appropriations bill for FY16.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) adjusted its forecast, indicating an even further drop in orange production in Florida than its original grim projections. Last month, NASS unveiled its October crop predicting less output across the board for several types of oranges in Florida, forecasting all oranges at 80 million boxes, down 17 percent from last year. But last week, NASS lowered it even further, down to 74 million boxes.
The decline in Florida citrus in recent years is mostly the result of citrus greening. Spread by the Asian citrus psyllid, a tiny insect, citrus greening infects trees, leading to deformed and bitter fruit. Eventually, citrus greening kills the tree. One of the few ways to fight citrus greening is by removing the tree
In 2013, the Florida citrus industry -- which generates $9 billion and employs more than 75,000 Floridians -- saw its worst year in almost a quarter century and the numbers have dropped since then. Earlier this year, the USDA awarded $30 million to fight citrus greening and, back in April, launched a project with an additional $23 million in grants to fight citrus greening.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
