It is tempting to reference Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities” to describe the produce industry in the Sunshine State as the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association prepares for its 69th annual convention, set for Sept. 19-21 at the Naples Ritz-Carlton.

While there are numerous challenges facing Florida produce production, there are also many causes for optimism.

“In some cases it’s the best of times and in some cases it’s the worst of times, it all depends on who you talk to,” said FFVA President Mike Stuart. “Some commodities in the state and some big crops -– tomatoes, strawberries -- they had a tough year, a very, very tough year for a variety of reasons, so they suffered. If things don’t improve they’re going to continue to suffer. Those industries are facing some significant challenges and it’s not limited to those by any stretch of the imagination but they’re certainly front and center. Some other commodities, like Bell pepper and cucumbers, have had a tough year. Others have had a pretty good year. We faced some real challenges, some life-or-death challenges certainly in the citrus industry and a tremendous amount of industry effort and resources are going into finding solutions to those challenges. But at the same time, grower returns have been strong as well. The challenges are there but economically the industry is doing better certainly than others. Then you have a lot of folks just going through normal up-and-down cycles. It’s truly is a mixed bag and that’s what makes a diverse state like Florida interesting; you’re very seldom hitting on the same cylinders at the same time, there’s always ups and downs.”

And while the annual convention will provide ample opportunity via workshops, presentations and networking sessions to explore those challenges and opportunities, it also represents a chance to step away from the demands of the industry for a three-day break in a luxurious setting.

“We get into it quite a bit, we spend a lot of time focusing on business, so it’s nice to have a little bit of a break,” Mr. Stuart said.

In an exemplary juxtaposition – and one typical of FFVA – Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Resources Adam Putnam will serve as keynote speaker at the convention’s "State of the Industry Update" Sept. 19 while while James Olson, formerly chief of Counterintelligence of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, the author of two nonfiction best-sellers about his service and now senior lecturer at the Bush School at Texas A&M University, will deliver the keynote address at the annual “Cracker Breakfast” the next day.

Mr. Olson provides “a phenomenal presentation, so it’ll be interesting and it kind of breaks up the industry issues a little bit, which we try to do to provide a little outside information and entertainment,” Mr. Stuart said.

Mr. Olson’s presentation will be a welcome respite from the raft of challenges facing the Florida produce industry, from labor and water woes to pest and disease pressure to increasingly stiff foreign competition.

“There are some marketplace challenges, the food-safety issue is continuing to hover over the industry for one,” said Mr. Stuart, referring to the recent Salmonella outbreak that has been linked to cantaloupe, same as last summer’s Listeria outbreak that killed 37 and sickened hundreds more. “I think some of what’s come out here recently is another indication that food safety doesn’t discriminate between a large producer and a small producer. Everybody in the supply chain has responsibility for food safety and we’re seeing again that one producer in an industry can have significant negative impact on a commodity and everybody else in that business.”

What frustrates Mr. Stuart is the fact that the “good agricultural practices and best management practices are out there. You see some criticism but the industry has done something. If people followed these good practices, we wouldn’t be having these problems to the degree we are. Getting the industry to universally adopt them is the tough part.”

And even though the Produce Traceability Initiative has established milestones for all produce providers to work toward, those standards are voluntary and there are no penalties — beyond what the marketplace can impose — for not adhering to them.

Said Mr. Stuart, “It’s one thing for you to do everything you can in your operation and make sure you’re doing everything right, but if the guy down the street is not, he’s in the same marketplace you are and can have a devastating impact on your business and an entire commodity.”

Other challenges are equally problematic. While Florida citrus growers are learning to live with HLB — huanglongbing, or ‘citrus greening disease’ — laurel wilt is threatening the state’s avocado industry. But even pest and disease pressures pale in comparison to more-pressing problems.

“The labor issue continues to be a very dark cloud on the horizon. Quite frankly, unlike some of the disease issues, where I know researchers are making progress every day, I’m not as comfortable on the labor side that we’ve got a road map laid out to solve it,” Mr. Stuart said. “We understand what we need to do, we just haven’t figured out how to get there and we’re spending a considerable amount of time on it. If we don’t solve that problem the rest of this doesn’t really make much difference. It’s all political. The difficulty of it is the politics of it. If you don’t have access to a quality workforce you’re in jeopardy of losing your business very quickly in an industry that has a very highly perishable product.”

Florida’s ongoing tilt with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over water quality is another threat to the state’s continued viability in agriculture. Under Commissioner Putnam’s leadership, the state has battled the EPA to a draw, but the war is far from over.

“We’re heading in the right direction,” Mr. Stuart said. “We’ve got aways to go but I think at least we appear to be heading in a better direction.”

Mr. Stuart said Florida is fortunate to have a leader like Commissioner Putnam, a 10-year veteran of the U.S. House of Representatives, on its side.

“It’s phenomenal to have such a staunch advocate in that role and he’s providing some great leadership for the state and the ag industry and that is something to be optimistic about,” Mr. Stuart said. Commissioner Putnam’s focus on getting fresh produce in Florida schools represents a “phenomenal opportunity and it’s something the industry should be excited about,” said Mr. Stuart.

Support from the commissioner’s office, ongoing research from the land-grant University of Florida and its Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences and Florida’s ever-changing produce landscape bode well for the future, Mr. Stuart said.

Despite the challenges faced by traditional leaders in the Sunshine State produce industry, the results of research from IFAS and the ingenuity of Florida farmers mean Florida is well-positioned to maintain its rank in the national produce picture.

“There’s room for growth, certainly in the commodity mix,” Mr. Stuart said. “As an example, I’ve been asked to go speak to the first annual meeting of the Florida Pomegranate Association and it wasn’t all that long ago we had the first meeting of the Florida Blueberry Association and look what has developed there in just such a short period of time. Clearly there is opportunity when we have institutions like UF and their breeding program; they’re doing some phenomenal work and we need to continue to ensure we’ve got that resource in the future. That’s our incubator right there. That type of work creates opportunity for producers in Florida and beyond and that’s certainly reason for optimism.”