Congress reached a budget deal this week. The compromise includes $20 million to help Florida’s $9 billion citrus industry fight greening.
By some estimates, citrus greening, which is a harmful bacteria that causes oranges to prematurely ripen, has cost Florida’s citrus growers $1 billion.
Orange growers have spent about $70 million dollars in the past few years fighting the disease. But, citrus greening continues to wreak havoc on the state’s groves.
That’s why growers asked Congress for an influx of cash targeted at fighting greening.
Ron Hamel, the Executive VP of the Gulf Citrus Growers Association in Fort Myers, said the funding couldn’t come a moment too soon.
“This 20 million dollars to the federal budget really specifically targeted at greening is certainly a big boost for our overall effort,” he said.
Hamel said the money will be used by the USDA to coordinate with state and local efforts already working to find a way to eradicate greening.
Besides a budget item brokered by Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Fla., Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., is working to get $30 million included in the Senate’s Farm Bill, which would also go to fighting the bacteria.
