Citrus Grown At Home Can’t Be Shipped
By BILL RETTEW JR.

SEBRING — For the kids and friends up north, there’s bad news.

There will be a little bit less Florida sunshine north of Jacksonville this winter because of citrus canker.

Out-of-state shipping or mailing of citrus by non-commercial growers is forbidden due to a U.S. Department of Agriculture quarantine.

Mark Fagan, spokesman with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, said Tuesday that Florida residents trying to mail or ship oranges grown in the backyard (dooryard citrus) have been regularly disappointed when they go to the post office.

Postal employees and shippers like UPS are forced to deliver the bad news to Florida residents.

“We’ve had a great many calls from all over the state from people who want to send citrus to their friends and family,” said Fagan.

George Wolf, of Chloe Terrace in Sebring, gives away hundreds of pieces of citrus each season from his backyard’s five trees. He distributes fruit freely and even leaves bags of oranges for trash and postal workers.

“I try to share the wealth,” said Wolf. “When you’ve got a good crop, you should spread the blessing to others.”

The grower of tangelos, tangerines, grapefruit, naval and juice oranges said he hates to see wasted fruit on the ground in back yards, considering Sebring’s senior population.

“Particularly since senior citizens are on very, very tight budgets,” he said.

Restrictions were put in place to prevent the spread of citrus canker. On Aug. 2, an interim rule was released to curtail the spread of canker to other orange producing states, which include: Arizona, California, Hawaii, Louisiana and Texas.

The rub for those with tangelo or orange trees in the back yard is a series of requirements, which include: grove inspection within 30 days of harvest; crop treatment with a decontaminant; a permit confirming inspection and treatment; and clear marking on packages to indicate that Florida fruit is prohibited from other growing states.

Andrea McNally, spokesperson with the USDA, said the department doesn’t have enough resources to process enough limited permits to cover backyard growers.

During the hurricanes of 2004 and 2005, airborne canker blew and spread easily, sometimes for more than a mile at a time. The USDA ordered that large tracts of trees were regularly destroyed to prevent canker spread. The USDA then had a change of heart.

“Citrus canker eradication in Florida was no longer a scientifically feasible option,” according to a news release from the USDA about a Jan. 2006 decision.

Ninety percent of Florida’s orange crop is harvested into juice, the industry employees 90,000 workers statewide and covers 620,000 acres, according to a media release from Florida Citrus Mutual. Fagan noted that Highlands County is the state’s fourth leading citrus producer with 78,000 acres harvested, behind Polk County with 101,000 acres.

Fagan said that the current ban on home growers might not last forever.

“We would like to sit down with the USDA and look at the rules of quarantine for the next summer,” said Fagan. “We hope to see changes after this season. As long as the commercial industry follows decontamination procedures they will help to minimize the risk of canker exposure.”
No freezes have hit Florida growers this season, but an estimated 75 percent of California’s crop suffered four consecutive nights of sub-freezing temperatures.

“The 2006-2007 Florida crop should help bridge the gap, as it is maturing with excellent quality and good appearance,” according to Michael W. Sparks, executive vice president/CEO of Florida Citrus Mutual.