The U-S Department of Agriculture has barred fresh Florida citrus from being shipped to citrus producing states – over fears that canker and other diseases that have affected Florida fruit could spread.
Florida Citrus Mutual’s interim CEO Jay Clark says while the ban on shipping grapefruits and tangerines to California, Arizona, Texas, Alabama and Louisiana hurts…it’s not a deadly blow.

“If you look at the big picture of all the oranges that are produced in the state, the fresh fruit market only makes up about 10-percent. However when you talk about a drop in the bucket, if you’re one of those growers that make up that 10-percent it’s the whole bucket. So as far as the industry, most oranges are utilized through juice, but certainly the fresh fruit market is a very important market to us.”

Growers say they’ll try to persuade the USDA to remove Alabama and Louisiana from the quarantine list because citrus production in those states is nominal.