Shortage of new trees threatens citrus' future
Tree diseases and rising costs imperil nurseries

Florida's battered citrus industry, which has lost about 16 million trees to canker in recent years and faces an even deadlier disease known as greening, now confronts a new crisis: growing enough new trees to replace those that have died.

The effects of disease and costly new regulations are key reasons the number of commercial citrus nurseries that sell to Florida's growers has plummeted by more than half -- to just 35 -- in the past five years.

As a result, the price of fledgling citrus trees has doubled. And there might not be enough to go around.

"The growers are quite concerned about the availability of stock in the future," said Michael Sparks, chief executive officer of trade organization Florida Citrus Mutual. "Certainly by our 2008 season, the availability of Florida citrus stock nursery trees will very well be an issue."

Florida's citrus growers are allowed to purchase young trees only from nurseries within the state. But nurseries have been hit hard by new restrictions prompted by greening, a disease carried tree-to-tree by a tiny insect that weakens and finally kills trees. The affliction is rampant in South Florida but its presence has not been confirmed in Central Florida.

To help prevent young trees from becoming infected by the psyllid, a fly that carries the bacteria that cause greening, the state now requires that the trees be grown in greenhouses. That has raised costs and prompted many nurseries to close.

Costs on the rise

The costs associated with combating the disease at the nursery level are significant. Nursery owners must build the greenhouses. And operating expenses increase, in part because employees can do less work in the cramped greenhouses than they could outside.

"Those are very expensive and require a lot of capital investment," said Mark Colbert, a manager with Oviedo-based Duda Farm Fresh Foods.

So, when canker wiped out Duda's Hendry County nursery in 2005 and the greening regulations took effect, the company closed the nursery segment of its citrus operation.

"We are committed to the citrus business for the long-term," he said. "But we're not prepared to get back into the nursery business at this time."

Florida's commercial nurseries provide small trees to growers who need to replace their trees for a variety of reasons. Two percent to 4 percent of grove trees die annually or reach the end of their productive lives.

But in just the past five years, the number of nurseries that sell to Florida's citrus growers has dwindled from 74 to 35, according to a state agriculture official. Polk County is home to 13 nurseries.

By contrast, there were nearly 1,000 citrus nurseries in Florida during the 1960s.

"It's a little concerning, certainly," said Steve Smith, senior vice president of agriculture operations at citrus producer Alico Inc. in LaBelle.

Starting over

While some nursery owners are leaving the business altogether, others refuse to walk away.

When canker wiped out Tommy Thayer's Dundee nursery more than a year ago, he wasn't sure whether he would get back into the business. But last year, the state abandoned its eradication program that required all canker-infested trees -- as well as any growing within 1,900 feet of them -- to be destroyed.

With the eradication program over, Thayer decided to raise trees again at his nursery, about 45 miles southwest of Orlando.

On a Dundee hilltop that looks more like a desert than a once-thriving citrus nursery, Thayer and five employees are growing thousands of young trees in four greenhouses set on just a few of his 150 acres in east Polk County.

"I am crazy," he quipped.

Thayer said were it not for his day jobs -- he owns citrus groves and works in real estate -- he wouldn't be able to pursue this expensive "hobby."

U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, a Bartow Republican and a farmer, said the citrus industry needs 9 million new trees to recover from the canker-eradication program. But even before the new greening regulations, Putnam said, citrus nurseries produced only about 5 million trees annually.

'The No. 1 challenge'

Once a tree is purchased from the nursery and planted in a grove, it takes about four years before fruit can be harvested. Growers plan for trees to produce fruit for 20 to 30 years, but even that estimate is in limbo now that Florida has canker and greening -- the only state with both diseases.

While there has been no confirmed greening in Polk, the disease has spread throughout South Florida and is in neighboring Highlands County. Both greening and canker are bacterial diseases, but greening is considered more serious because it kills trees and has never been eradicated anywhere it has taken hold.

"That's the No. 1 challenge. Everything pales in significance to greening right now," said Michael Kesinger of Florida's Bureau of Citrus Budwood Registration.

"It's more difficult to control," he said. "As you can imagine, it's very difficult to eliminate insects. The disease is in the tree for a period of time before you can see it."

Even though he has to pay to build new greenhouses and other related expenses at his nursery, Thayer said he agrees with the greening mandates. "It's the right way to do it," he said.

But the new regulations have sharply reduced his production, from 500,000 trees a year to an anticipated 140,000. And he expects to double his price to $8 a tree.

Thayer said growers are aware of the new operating expenses nurserymen have incurred and understand they have no choice but to pay more if they want to replant their groves.

But Alico's Smith said some might not be able to afford to pay double.

"If fruit prices are low, you can't afford to be in the business and pay those prices for trees," Smith said.

Source: sun-sentinel.com