Free Republic

While commercial citrus growers in Florida are keenly aware of where the industry stands with citrus greening, I get many questions from the general public about the disease and citrus in general, so I thought an update on the situation was fitting. I’ll start with a quick history lesson to bring us all up to speed. Citrus greening or HLB is short for Huanglongbing, a bacterial disease that affects nearly all types of citrus and ultimately cause trees to die. Many have reported that it is the worst disease to ever impact citrus. The disease is vectored or transmitted by...

The sprawling citrus orchard that Victor Story toured recently sure looked like a steal at $11,000 an acre. The investors who owned it were going to lose money, and potential buyers such as Story might have stood to reap a handsome reward. But as he bumped along the 40 acres of groves in a large SUV, Story was taken aback by the sickly look of the trees. Their leaves were an inch shorter than normal and yellowing. Full-size oranges were still apple green. Other mature oranges that should have been the size of baseballs were no bigger than ping-pong balls....