For most of the past 50 years, TexaSweet Citrus Marketing Inc., the marketing and promotional arm of the Texas citrus industry since 1962, has focused on building demand and markets for its acclaimed red grapefruit and sweet oranges. But this year is different. With the new Texas citrus season upon us, the focus is on local outreach to educate consumers and backyard growers about citrus greening disease.

Eleisha Ensign, executive director of TexaSweet, based in Mission, TX, said  during last year’s citrus season the board of directors altered the focus of the marketing staff.Signs of citrus greening on an orange tree. “The TexaSweet board of directors, which includes both growers and shippers, decided that TexaSweet’s funding and efforts were better spent educating Rio Grande Valley residents about the threat of citrus greening disease and its implications on the future of the beloved Texas citrus crop versus a national promotional campaign,” she said.

Citrus greening was first found in south Texas in January 2012, after first establishing a foothold in Florida. The nature of the disease is to spread and growers are very concerned about the future of the Rio Grande Valley’s citrus crop as that is the prime growing region for citrus in Texas. At this point in October of 2014, there are five Texas counties under quarantine: Cameron, Hidalgo, Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery. Cameron and Hidalgo encompasses the majority of the commercial citrus-growing region.

Ensign said TexaSweet is conducting a large-scale local outreach program with the goal of educating residents about what citrus greening disease is, informing them how they can get involved to help save Texas citrus, and encouraging them to have symptomatic residential trees tested to identify positive trees. “TexaSweet has worked with industry leaders and scientists to construct a consumer-friendly message which has been utilized on its website and print materials,” she said. “We are also doing a large direct-mail campaign throughout the coming months, as we have found this to be a very successful tool in reaching residents and encouraging them to respond back to us.”

Traditional media including television, radio, newspaper and magazines, as well as social media, are being utilized in this campaign.

TexaSweet is also exhibiting at local events that draw in key targets, including winter Texans. Ensign said these residents come from across the United States and Canada to winter in south Texas, and may not know about citrus greening. Often, citrus is grown in the trailer parks and elsewhere where seasonal residents live.

“It is imperative that we reach out to this demographic when they are in residence,” she said. Presentations and outreach to local groups such as rotary clubs, schools, 4-H programs and master gardeners are also in the works.

Capitalizing on its history of creating promotional pieces for Texas citrus, a new endeavor that TexaSweet is planning to use in its outreach program is producing compelling promotional videos to use in its public service campaign as well as social media outlets such as FaceBook and YouTube. “These videos will be short clips that give details about the disease, how it spreads, and how it affects every resident in the RGV,” Ensign said. “The goal of these videos is to create a desire in residents to be proactive and responsive in their citrus tree care and monitoring, and to notify us if they see symptoms of this disease.”

The spread of the disease throughout the country is largely considered to be the work of unwitting people who take trees and nursery stock from one location to another. Ensign said TexaSweet has worked very hard with industry leaders to strategize and create an effective response plan for the outreach program. “We feel confident that we will be able to effectively follow through with residents’ questions and requests to have their trees sampled. TexaSweet is hopeful that this promotional program will be effective in assisting the industry to identify positive residential trees and hopefully slow the spread of this disease,” she added.

Industrywide, it is somewhat of a foregone conclusion that citrus greening is here to stay with much of the focus and research on managing the issue and finding a cure.