It is set to be a busy legislative session for agricultural interests in Florida. One of the bills making its way through the process is SB 1002, the Citrus Recovery Act. Sen. Danny Burgess (R-District 20) introduced the bill to amend the Florida Citrus Commission (FCC). The FCC is the governing body of the Florida Department of Citrus.
The Citrus Recovery Act would make the FCC larger and would revise the geographic coverage that each commissioner represents. The current statute calls for the review of citrus districts every five years to determine if redistricting is necessary to maintain “substantially equal volumes of citrus production” in the districts.
“With the continued consolidation of the industry and urban growth trends over the past decade, it’s time to redistrict to maintain equal representation of the industry growing regions on the commission,” Burgess says.
A few highlights of the Citrus Recovery Act include:
- Increases the membership of the FCC from nine members to eleven
- Increases the number of citrus districts from three to six and revises the counties that
- comprise each district
- Requires certain entities to provide reports on citrus production research to the commission at specified intervals and upon request of the commission
- Requires that new varieties of citrus fruit produced from research or studies funded by state funds be made exclusively available for licensing and purchase to certain Florida producers for a specified timeframe
- Requires producers who receive such exclusivity to retain the exclusivity for a specified timeframe and provides pricing requirements for such arrangements
The language regarding new varieties is aimed at serving local growers who helped fund the breeding programs and potentially HLB-resistant selections.
“As greening is endemic in citrus-producing regions around …..
Learn more about how the Citrus Recovery Act Seeks to Update Florida Citrus Commission on the Citrus Industry website.