The 2023 California Citrus Conference in Visalia proved collaboration is pivotal when tackling industry issues. The conference, hosted by California’s Citrus Research Board, had a lineup of industry leaders, researchers and others who updated growers on California’s citrus industry.
Casey Creamer, president and chief executive officer of California Citrus Mutual, spoke on strengthening the connection between research and advocacy. He touched on several areas of progress within the past year, including pesticides, HLB coordination, enforcement of grapefruit juice maturity standards, the USDA Agriculture Research Service breeding program and the 2023 farm bill.
Creamer said cohesiveness and collaboration are keys to getting the job done. “There are so many issues in Congress with the farm bill and the different commodities. If you have differences within a commodity, it’s very difficult to get anything done. So, you have to come to Congress with solutions,” Creamer said. “I know we’ve got lots of problems. The more you can identify those problems and identify solutions to address those problems in a collaborative fashion, it doesn’t guarantee victory, but your odds of success are much better.”
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