For Florida agency, canker eradication program not easy to relinquish
For Florida agency, canker eradication program not easy to relinquish
"We are in a control and suppress mode," Liz Compton, spokesperson for the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, said in response to the recent U.S. Department of Agriculture announcement that the canker eradication program is no longer effective, and that it will not continue to fund tree removal that is done with eradication as its goal.
Ms. Compton added, "We have spent the past several years working to get rid of canker in the state through this program, and it is very frustrating to now have to give it up."
Commissioner of Agriculture Charles H. Bronson announced the USDA's decision in a Jan. 11 press release and said that the agency's scientific analysis of the potential spread of the disease from the unprecedented 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons indicates that it is no longer possible to eradicate citrus canker and that a new management plan must be devised.
The announcement also stated that in conjunction with the department, USDA intends to develop a response plan with scientific, industry and public input that will limit further tree removal and implement management practices that will accomplish the goals of controlling and suppressing canker infestations.
In a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns responding to the announcement, Mr. Bronson stated that Florida farmers are a resilient group, but a key part of that resiliency is being able to plan and start making changes now. He added that providing growers with immediate guidance on their day-to-day operations, where appropriate, will enable them to have some level of certainty for their business operations as the transition is made.
The 1,900-foot law remains a law, but it cannot be enforced without the funds needed to support it. The law was enacted in 2002 after scientific research indicated that 1,900 feet is the area that bacteria from infected trees would likely be confined if carried by wind and rain. Two years of legal action by homeowners in Broward Country caused the program to stall and delay, but the law was upheld in a 2004 court decision. Since then, all trees within 1,900 feet of confirmed infections have been destroyed -- with numbers well into the millions.
Some residents who have lost backyard trees are expressing anger over the demise of the canker eradication program, accusing the Florida department of supporting a project they perceive as being a waste of time, money and perfectly healthy trees. Some have even suggested that Commissioner Bronson be removed from office for his support of the program. But not everyone agrees, including even those who have lost commercial trees to canker disease.
In late September, workers discovered canker disease on about 15 trees in Hunt Bros. Inc. groves in Lake Wales. Ellis Hunt Jr., president of the company, said that the workers had been trained in a FDACS program to detect the disease.
"The eradication team came in with flame throwers in early October and torched the trees, but they had not yet removed the exposed trees that are within the 1,900-feet when the news was announced that the program would cease," said Mr. Hunt.
Hunt Bros. was founded in 1922, and is now operated by the third generation of family members. The company grows citrus on approximately 5,000 acres in several counties in Florida. Besides facing a canker find in the past year, the company also lost about 300,000 boxes of citrus during Hurricane Wilma last October.
"I'm happy they didn't get to us before they had a chance to enforce the 1,900-foot law in our grove, but I'm saddened that the state did not have an opportunity to get its hands around this disease and get the eradication program completed before the storms of 2004 and 2005," said Mr. Hunt. "Some people said we were past the point of no return after the 2004 storms, but Wilma was the last straw."
Mr. Hunt said that the industry has faced many pests, diseases and weather-related hardships over the decades, and has managed to get through them all. Now facing the spread of canker and citrus greening, a disease that is carried by psyllids from tree to tree and can destroy them in short time, he feels it is more important than ever to continue fighting the problems.
"Many times adversity will bring out new solutions," he said. "And while citrus greening is certainly bad, we will train our people to spot the disease and work with state agencies to find ways to control it, as we will with the canker problem. Had the program not been slowed by the legal issues that it faced, and if the storms of the past two years had not spread canker so widely, the disease would have been under control or well on its way to being a problem of the past by now. We at Hunt Bros. intend on celebrating our 100th anniversary in 13 years, and then we plan to look forward to a viable industry for the next 100 years after that."
No one agrees with Mr. Hunt more than those who have supported the eradication program since its beginning, including Ms. Compton.
"Some homeowners are suggesting that they have lost their backyard trees for no reason, but there was no way for us to foresee two unprecedented hurricane seasons in a row," she said. "Scientists whose research lead to the 1,900-foot law did take the hurricane risk into consideration, but even they could not have foretold the number and intensity of the storms."
The department plans to announce the alternative canker plan within the next 60 days.
Ms. Compton added, "We have spent the past several years working to get rid of canker in the state through this program, and it is very frustrating to now have to give it up."
Commissioner of Agriculture Charles H. Bronson announced the USDA's decision in a Jan. 11 press release and said that the agency's scientific analysis of the potential spread of the disease from the unprecedented 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons indicates that it is no longer possible to eradicate citrus canker and that a new management plan must be devised.
The announcement also stated that in conjunction with the department, USDA intends to develop a response plan with scientific, industry and public input that will limit further tree removal and implement management practices that will accomplish the goals of controlling and suppressing canker infestations.
In a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns responding to the announcement, Mr. Bronson stated that Florida farmers are a resilient group, but a key part of that resiliency is being able to plan and start making changes now. He added that providing growers with immediate guidance on their day-to-day operations, where appropriate, will enable them to have some level of certainty for their business operations as the transition is made.
The 1,900-foot law remains a law, but it cannot be enforced without the funds needed to support it. The law was enacted in 2002 after scientific research indicated that 1,900 feet is the area that bacteria from infected trees would likely be confined if carried by wind and rain. Two years of legal action by homeowners in Broward Country caused the program to stall and delay, but the law was upheld in a 2004 court decision. Since then, all trees within 1,900 feet of confirmed infections have been destroyed -- with numbers well into the millions.
Some residents who have lost backyard trees are expressing anger over the demise of the canker eradication program, accusing the Florida department of supporting a project they perceive as being a waste of time, money and perfectly healthy trees. Some have even suggested that Commissioner Bronson be removed from office for his support of the program. But not everyone agrees, including even those who have lost commercial trees to canker disease.
In late September, workers discovered canker disease on about 15 trees in Hunt Bros. Inc. groves in Lake Wales. Ellis Hunt Jr., president of the company, said that the workers had been trained in a FDACS program to detect the disease.
"The eradication team came in with flame throwers in early October and torched the trees, but they had not yet removed the exposed trees that are within the 1,900-feet when the news was announced that the program would cease," said Mr. Hunt.
Hunt Bros. was founded in 1922, and is now operated by the third generation of family members. The company grows citrus on approximately 5,000 acres in several counties in Florida. Besides facing a canker find in the past year, the company also lost about 300,000 boxes of citrus during Hurricane Wilma last October.
"I'm happy they didn't get to us before they had a chance to enforce the 1,900-foot law in our grove, but I'm saddened that the state did not have an opportunity to get its hands around this disease and get the eradication program completed before the storms of 2004 and 2005," said Mr. Hunt. "Some people said we were past the point of no return after the 2004 storms, but Wilma was the last straw."
Mr. Hunt said that the industry has faced many pests, diseases and weather-related hardships over the decades, and has managed to get through them all. Now facing the spread of canker and citrus greening, a disease that is carried by psyllids from tree to tree and can destroy them in short time, he feels it is more important than ever to continue fighting the problems.
"Many times adversity will bring out new solutions," he said. "And while citrus greening is certainly bad, we will train our people to spot the disease and work with state agencies to find ways to control it, as we will with the canker problem. Had the program not been slowed by the legal issues that it faced, and if the storms of the past two years had not spread canker so widely, the disease would have been under control or well on its way to being a problem of the past by now. We at Hunt Bros. intend on celebrating our 100th anniversary in 13 years, and then we plan to look forward to a viable industry for the next 100 years after that."
No one agrees with Mr. Hunt more than those who have supported the eradication program since its beginning, including Ms. Compton.
"Some homeowners are suggesting that they have lost their backyard trees for no reason, but there was no way for us to foresee two unprecedented hurricane seasons in a row," she said. "Scientists whose research lead to the 1,900-foot law did take the hurricane risk into consideration, but even they could not have foretold the number and intensity of the storms."
The department plans to announce the alternative canker plan within the next 60 days.
