Citrus Growers Forced to Push Trees Due to Zero Water

Governor Brown issued an executive order on Friday to the Department of Water Resources and the State Water Resources Control Board to expedite approvals of voluntary water transfers to areas of need.

Citrus growers and communities within the Friant service area, however, are still without water despite the availability of additional supplies from recent storm events.

There have been many opportunities for the state water agencies to communicate with stakeholders the amount of water that will be delivered, yet they consistently fail to provide numbers.

A conference call was scheduled on Friday, but after being postponed twice it was cancelled. “The lack of communication by Federal and State administrations to producers of fresh fruits and vegetables regarding future deliveries is unacceptable,” says Nelsen.

A vast majority of the Central Valley’s $1.5 billion citrus industry is located within the Friant Service Area. Due to the unwillingness of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to cooperate with State and Federal lawmakers and agencies, an estimated 50,000 acres of citrus in the Central Valley is at risk of being forced out of production.

We now know that because of the February and March storms there is sufficient supply to service the Friant Canal’s minimum needs of 200,000 acre-feet. However, “NMFS fails to realize the disastrous impacts of their unwillingness to reevaluate the actual needs of the fish and reach a balanced solution for all stakeholders,” says CCM President Joel Nelsen. “Growers are now being forced to make difficult decisions as the bureaucrats at NMFS fail to reach a decision of their own.”

Acres upon acres of valuable citrus trees have already been pushed out of production. But, it is not just trees that will be pushed if Friant does not receive water – jobs will be pushed, people will be pushed, and the economy will surely suffer.

California Citrus Mutual estimates that a loss of 50,000 acres will result in a $3 billion hit to the California economy. “This is not just about trees, it is a matter of public health,” continues Nelsen. “Unless our growers receive their fair share of water from the Friant Canal our communities will suffer without the economic driver of a vibrant citrus industry in the Central Valley.”

“I ask, is it worth sending excess amounts of water down the river at the expense of an entire industry and the 20,000 jobs it creates,” concludes Nelsen.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:38:00-07:00April 28th, 2014|

Tulare Water Rally Needs You on March 26th

Water Rally in Tulare Needs You!

Mario Santoyo, Executive Director of California Latino Water Coalition, announced a Water Rally on Wednesday, March 26^th in Tulare. We urge everyone with agricultural water interests to attend and advocate for increased water allocations!

Mario Santoyo

Santoyo commented:

You all are very aware of the water crisis that has been plaguing the West Side farmers due to federal pumping restrictions, well now with this year’s historic drought combined with those same pumping restrictions the East Side farmers will be in the same crisis condition.

The only hope for farmers on both sides of this Valley to survive this year is a change in the Delta Operations by both the State and Federal governments in order to maximize the flexibilities they have under this crisis to deliver more water south of the Delta, so an upcoming rally is intended to send that message.

The initial event flyer for the rally along with a water supply update on the East Side farmers’ dire situation is below.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:38:07-07:00March 22nd, 2014|

Citrus Showcase Had Strong Showing

Citrus Showcase News

Area-Wide ACP Spraying To Start Soon

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Editor

The 2014 California Citrus Showcase in Visalia, hosted by the Exeter based California Citrus Mutual, brought a record crowd.

“It was the largest event we have had in our 15 years,” said Joel Nelson, President of the California Citrus Mutual, the organization that hosts the annual event. “We had about 100 exhibitors and about 650 people for lunch, and roughly 1,000 growers who meandered though the entire show throughout the course of the day,” Nelson said.

There were also six workshops that focused on the Asian Citrus Psyllid, the vector of the fatal HLB disease, water quality and even GMO research to help find HLB resistant citrus stock.

“What we wanted to do was give our growers a bit of optimism,” said Nelson. “Our citrus industry has been hit with so many challenges, not withstanding the ACP/HLB issue, the disease that is ravaging Florida; the freeze in December and now the drought conditions.”

“We wanted the industry to be aware that there are opportunities to fix these problems that are facing our industry, and I think that the growers left here much more positive than when they came in,” said Nelson.

Joel Nelson, President of California Citrus Mutual, with Felicia Marcus, Chair of the State Water Resources Control Board

Some of the highlights of the half-day event included:

The keynote speaker for the inaugural Citrus Showcase Breakfast was Felicia Marcus, Chair of the State Water Resources Control Board. “This is a scary and uncertain drought, and it is going to be painful,” Marcus said.

“There is no question that we would not be where we are today if we had more storage,” Marcus said. “We are concerned with climate change when we could be facing the regular loss of half of our storage…snow in the mountains.”

She also said that nitrates in the ground water are a legacy issue.

Another big topic centered on what can be done to suppress the ACP, which will help prevent HLB infected trees.

The San Joaquin Valley Citrus Industry has been discussing area-wide treatment of orchards, on top of the mandated treatments when a psyllid is found.

Kevin Severns

“As it stands right now, there would be logical areas where geographically it would make sense to have that as a treatment zone,” said Kevin Severns, a grower and the new Chairman of California Citrus Mutual.

“There will be area captains in each of the zones, such as a grower or other person well-known in the area. They would work with an area-wide coordinator, and the state-wide coordinator will be responsible for coordinating treatment,” Severns said.

The spray timing would be when new growth flushes occur on citrus trees, a time when the ACP is attracted too.

Attendees also heard from Mike Sparks, President of the Florida Citrus Mutual, who painted a grim picture of what has happened to the Florida citrus industry and described its uncertain future.

“The losses due to HLB over the last seven years have been more than $70 million, said Sparks. “Before HLB disease hit us, the Florida Citrus industry was at 815,000 acres. Today the acreage is at 525,000. And we are losing orange juice processing plant infrastructure due to the low volume, pegged at only 115 million boxes, down from 133 million boxes last season.”

“Every orchard in the state is infected and growers are doing every thing they can to reduce ACP numbers and remove HLB-infected trees,” said Sparks.

Mike Sparks

There is particular concern for orchards that have been abandoned.

“The cost of production in order to fight ACP with sprays continues to go up, while production goes down. We know this is not sustainable,” said Sparks.

“Over the years, Florida citrus growers have had to deal with freezes, citrus canker, and even powerful hurricanes that have wiped out orchards. At least those orchards could be replanted and production would resume. HLB, is a far different threat. It has put growers to their knees,” Sparks said.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:38:51-07:00March 7th, 2014|