Party-line deal

Senate Democrats may support a budget resolution to avoid a government shutdown. However, when the funding package passed the House, Florida lawmakers broke along party lines.

“This bill does nothing to lower costs for American families,” said Rep. Lois Frankel, a West Palm Beach Democrat. “Instead, it fails to protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid from devastating cuts promised by the President’s billionaire friend.”

The bill (HR 1968), which will keep the government open for an entire year, also drew some criticism on the right, though every Republican in Florida’s congressional delegation ultimately voted for it. Some said it was only President Donald Trump’s urging that led them to go along with the spending for now.

“Voting for a CR goes against every bone in my body, but I am placing my full trust in the President’s long-term commitment to getting our fiscal house in order,” said Rep. Greg Steube, a Sarasota Republican.

“The previous Congress should have never hamstrung the President with a March 2025 deadline for current funding — just 50 days into his presidency. (I voted against that.) Having spoken with Donald Trump, I am confident in his ability to lead our country out of the debt crisis that has plagued us for decades. The American people put us in charge to fix these problems, and President Trump will do just that.”

Ultimately, only one Democrat supported the House resolution, and one Republican opposed it — neither from Florida. However, Republicans who supported the bill suggested it fell short of the spending cuts desired.

“While I typically oppose short-term funding measures, this legislation rejects the Washington presumption that nothing can be cut from the budget in order to fund priorities without increasing the deficit,” said Rep. Dan Webster, a Clermont Republican. “HR 1968 reduces overall federal spending for Fiscal Year 2025 while strengthening border security, providing critical funding for service members and veterans and protecting American taxpayers.”

For Democrats, the budget cuts felt too severe and deferential to the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency.

“Any proposal that leaves our heroes homeless by decimating affordable housing assistance, cuts $23 billion for our wounded warriors who need care for toxic exposures and starves seniors of the food they need should be a non-starter for any member of Congress,” said Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a Miramar Democrat.

Earlier in the week, Florida’s two Republican Senators signaled they would approve the budget in the upper chamber.

“I will be voting with President Trump to keep the government open as Republicans work to deliver on the Trump agenda to secure the border, cut wasteful spending and finally balance the budget,” posted Sen. Rick Scott, Florida’s senior Senator. “We cannot let Democrats shut down the government & obstruct Trump’s agenda.”

On Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, told the caucus it would be best to pass a budget right now. “For Donald Trump, a shutdown would be a gift. It would be the best distraction he could ask for from his awful agenda,” he told The Associated Press.

Already targeted

House Republicans are already using the vote against the budget by Democrats in battleground districts against them.

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) issued separate press releases criticizing Reps. Darren Soto, a Kissimmee Democrat, and Jared Moskowitz, a Parkland Democrat. The emails laid out specific costs of a potential shutdown in Florida.

Loan financing for Florida’s 3.3 million small businesses will be jeopardized.

Funding for the Head Start program — which 28,546 children in Florida rely on — may be cut off,” wrote Maureen O’Toole, NRCC Eastern Regional Press Secretary.

An email labeling Moskowitz as “out of touch” said Florida’s 23rd Congressional District would see 4,472 federal workers lose paychecks, while another attacking Soto said a higher 7,953 federal workers in Florida’s 9th Congressional District could risk furloughs.

Of course, all eight Democrats in Florida’s delegation voted against the budget, but the emails signal which members House Republicans view as potentially vulnerable in 2026 because of the vote.

Moskowitz, for his part, said he would have supported the bill if the House had taken up an amendment he filed, guaranteeing that Social Security and Medicare would not be cut this year. “Let’s not forget Republicans removed their own Speaker over doing a CR,” he told MSNBC. “We need a bipartisan solution to keep government open.”

Soto said Democrats had no incentive to support a partisan bill. Instead, he would have backed a resolution to fund the government for a month while negotiating a bipartisan package.

“House Democrats stand united for a four-week funding extension that stops harmful cuts to veterans, Social Security and disaster relief, keeps our government running, and allows Congress to reach a bipartisan budget deal,” he posted.

First bill

Florida’s most recent former “Top Cop” is sticking up for her former colleagues and other public servants in her first bill filed in the Senate.

Sen. Ashley Moody’s Homes for Every Local Protector, Educator, and Responder (HELPER) Act seeks to provide Federal Housing Administration home loan assistance to teachers, cops, firefighters and other first responders.

With this introduction, the Plant City Republican collaborates with Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia to reach across party and state lines.

Moody invokes her half-dozen years as Florida’s Attorney General to explain why this legislation, which her predecessor Marco Rubio introduced, is so meaningful to her.

“Florida is the most pro-law-enforcement state in the nation,” the Plant City Republican said.

“Over the past six years, while many other states and cities disparaged and cut funding for law enforcement, I fought for raises, bonuses, relocation assistance, and other benefits to show these officers that we value their service. The HELPER Act is the next great step in ensuring these heroes know we appreciate their hard work and sacrifices. It will also help them purchase a home in the community where they serve.”

Rep. John Rutherford, a Jacksonville Republican, is one of four co-sponsoring the House version.

Protecting agriculture

As Florida’s agriculture community recovers from several intense hurricane seasons, Scott sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins outlining some of the state’s needs.

“Florida plays a unique and vital role in America’s agricultural landscape as a leading producer of specialty crops, including citrus, tomatoes, strawberries, and peppers,” Scott wrote.

“As the primary source of fresh fruits and vegetables for the Eastern United States during the winter months, Florida’s agricultural industry is essential to maintaining a stable and reliable food supply. However, this industry faces increasing challenges from hurricanes, foreign competition, and devastating plant diseases like citrus greening. Supporting Florida’s farmers is not just a regional concern — it is a national priority for food security.”

The Naples Republican outlined several specific needs of Florida farmers, including disaster block grants, staffing at the Farm Services Agency, and fair trade policies to protect seasonal fruit growers from dumping low-quality Mexican produce at the border. He also explicitly outlined research needs related to combating citrus greening.

“These issues are critical to the future of American agriculture, and I urge you to take swift action to support our farmers, protect our land, and strengthen our food supply,” Scott wrote.

Easier aid

Meanwhile, Rep. Kat Cammack introduced legislation she hopes will remove barriers to farmers and ranchers seeking federal disaster grant funding.

The Fair Access to Agriculture Disaster Programs Act would call for revisiting adjusted gross income limits for farms that have not kept pace with inflation.

“Our farmers, ranchers, and producers work hard every day to feed and clothe our nation. When disaster strikes, they should be able to access the important programs designed to protect them,” the Gainesville Republican said.

“The AGI limitations set years ago have denied access for producers who truly need it, and the exemption for farms making 75% of their income from farming and farming-related practices is much-needed to bolster resilience. I’m glad to join my House and Senate colleagues in leading this effort to ensure fair access to these critical disaster programs.”

She filed the bipartisan bill with Democratic Reps. Zoe Lofgren and Jimmy Panetta of California and Republican Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia.

“Barriers to assistance programs for our farmers and ranchers can hold back the recovery of rural economies after natural disasters,” Panetta said. “This bipartisan legislation would ensure that producers who depend on agriculture for their livelihoods can access the resources they need to not only get by during times of crisis but also to rebuild stronger. This is a common-sense solution that will strengthen our agricultural safety net and the agriculture of our country.”

NASA push

Sens. Moody and Scott are introducing the Consolidating Aerospace Programs Efficiently (CAPE) at Canaveral Act to move NASA’s headquarters to the Space Coast.

“Establishing NASA’s headquarters within the Space Coast will bridge the bureaucracy gap from the top down and bring stakeholders together,” Moody said.

“Florida is the gateway to space, and this common-sense proposal would save taxpayers money, encourage collaboration with private space companies, and tap into Florida’s talented workforce to spur further innovation. As stewards of taxpayer dollars, we must ensure that any new building will be filled with employees — not empty like we have been seeing in Washington the last four years.”

Her office suggested that building a new headquarters in Washington for the agency is pointless, given that the agency’s current digs have had as little as a 15% occupancy rate.

“Moving to Florida will not only save Americans’ tax dollars, it will enhance efficiency and streamline operations in this important industry with proximity to private-sector partners and a top-tier workforce ready to help America reach its space exploration goals,” Scott added.

Grand slam celebration?

Members of the congressional delegation have come together to talk turkey.

Reps. Scott Franklin, a Lakeland Republican, and Soto, a Kissimmee Democrat, filed a resolution recognizing Saturday, March 15, as National Osceola Turkey Day. Scott and Moody introduced a companion resolution in the Senate.

“The Osceola turkey is a special part of Florida’s natural heritage,” Franklin said. “We must continue critical efforts to conserve and protect their habitat, especially with only 100,000 birds left in existence. This resolution underscores the importance of conservation programs that protect Florida’s wildlife and preserve hunting traditions for future generations.”

The black-winged turkey, named for Seminole leader Chief Osceola, has long been a popular target for hunters. It is one of four species in North America and part of the National Wild Turkey Federation’s “Grand Slam.”

“Outdoor enthusiasts from all over the world come to Central Florida in search of the Osceola turkey — helping our local economy continue thriving,” Soto said. “I’m proud of our bipartisan efforts to protect the Osceola turkey and hunting traditions.”

Cleanup in aisle fairness

Just feet from the checkout counter at the United Against Poverty Member Share Grocery Store in Orlando, Rep. Maxwell Frost unveiled legislation to fight high grocery prices.

“Families across America are paying way too much for food while a few huge companies make billions of dollars,” Frost said.

“The Fair Grocery Pricing Act is the solution we need to stop these companies from unfairly raising prices and help make groceries affordable again. We can’t keep letting big food companies control the market and raise prices whenever they want. Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress ran on the promise of lowering costs, but now they have no plan and are pointing fingers — here’s something they can do to deliver on that promise and help Central Florida families.”

The legislation would make it illegal for food producers to use digital tools to share pricing or supply information, which Frost said leads to price-fixing. The bill would also stop the coordination of pricing through algorithms and create a legal avenue for consumers who feel commercial practices are keeping prices high.

Credit card caps

Credit card fees have brought together two members of Congress who are famously from different extremes of their parties. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a St. Petersburg Republican, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, unveiled a bipartisan bill that would cap credit card interest rates at 10%.

“I’m proud to be the bipartisan co-lead to this legislation,” Luna said. “For too long, credit card companies have abused working-class Americans with absurd interest rates, trapping them in an almost insurmountable amount of debt. We need a fair solution — and that means getting rid of the status quo and putting a reasonable cap on interest rates.”

While Luna, a popular figure in the MAGA movement, and Ocasio-Cortez, head of The Squad, have been celebrated by polar opposites of the ideological spectrum, they also represent populist coalitions within their respective parties.

“Credit cards with high interest rates regularly trap working people in endless cycles of debt. At a time when families are struggling to make ends meet, we cannot allow big banks to shake down our communities for profit,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

“During his campaign, President Trump pledged to cap credit card interest rates at 10%. We’re making that pledge more than a talking point by introducing legislation to protect working people from remaining trapped under mountains of debt.”

Insurance fraud

As health insurance rates climb nationwide, Rep. Kathy Castor is part of a bipartisan effort to crack down on rogue carriers changing prices after consumers sign up for plans.

The Tampa Democrat filed the Insurance Fraud Accountability Act with Rep. Deborah Ross, a North Carolina Republican. The bill would establish criminal penalties and enhance consumer protections when insurers change plans advertised in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace without subscribers’ knowledge or consent.

“The Affordable Care Act has been a godsend to families across America and in Florida, which has the highest number of marketplace enrollees nationwide,” Castor said. “The ACA has lowered the cost of high-quality health care and banned discrimination for preexisting conditions. Unfortunately, a few bad actors are exploiting people and signing them up for health insurance plans without their consent.”

Ross said that type of change in practice hurts consumers unfairly.

“North Carolina families should never have to wake up to find their health insurance changed or canceled without their knowledge,” the Republican Congresswoman said.

Castor expressed hope that, regardless of lawmakers’ opinions on the marketplace, members would unite to fight customer unfair treatment.

“Together, these measures will protect hardworking Americans from predatory practices and keep money in their wallets where it rightfully belongs,” she said. “If President Trump and Congressional Republicans were serious about addressing fraud in our health systems, they would support this critical legislation.”

Streamlined swapping

Rep. Byron Donalds, a Naples Republican, is joining Moskowitz to facilitate conservation efforts for states and tribes.

The Make State Wildlife Action Plans (Make SWAPS) Efficient Act would expedite the federal process for approving state wildlife protection grant funding. It would also institute a six-month timeline for the Fish & Wildlife Service to review wildlife action plans before they are automatically approved.

“Florida depends on the State and Tribal Wildlife Grant Program to help protect the diverse ecosystems that call our state home, but it takes far too long for the federal government to approve wildlife conservation action plans under it,” Moskowitz said. “So, I’m teaming up with Congressman Donalds on common sense legislation that will institute a timeline for officials to sign off on these strategies and get these targeted funds out more quickly. By streamlining this conservation tool, our bill will cut red tape and help ensure our public lands and Florida wildlife stay protected from coast to coast.”

States typically submit SWAP plans every 10 years. Despite this infrequency, the federal government has taken up to 18 months to release appropriate funds.

“As we continue to peel back the labyrinth of federal bureaucracy that has paralyzed the basic functions of our federal government, we must turn to the Department of Interior,” Donalds said.

“Currently, it’s taking over a year and a half to approve basic state wildlife protection plans to ensure non-game species do not become threatened or endangered. This is unacceptable, and this is why I introduced HR 1676 to expedite this timeline to just 180 days. We are making our government efficient again whether bureaucrats in Washington like it or not.”

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, All Florida, Ducks Unlimited, and Florida Commercial Watermen’s Conservation endorsed the bill.

Teacher pay

Rep. Frederica Wilson, a former schoolteacher and principal, continues championing public-school educators in Congress. The Miami-Dade Democrat reintroduced the American Teacher Act, which would boost minimum teacher salaries to $60,000 nationwide.

“It’s about damn time we give our public schoolteachers a raise. With the ongoing teacher shortage worsening each year, we fail to raise teacher salaries while prices rise; it’s no surprise that talented educators are leaving the profession. Speaking as a former public-school teacher and principal, I know firsthand how important our teachers are and how hard they work. Yet, despite teachers’ hard work, they often go unnoticed and are underpaid, forcing them to juggle multiple jobs just to make ends meet,” Wilson said.

“That is why I am once again introducing the American Teacher Act to ensure every teacher across America makes at least $60,000. Once we start respecting our educators, we can expect better student outcomes and watch our teacher shortage shrink.”

In addition to teacher raises the bill establishes a grant process for states to seek assistance paying those rates. Going forward, it would tie pay to the state’s Consumer Price Index.

Teachers unions endorsed the legislation.

“Students of every color, background and ZIP code deserve qualified and caring educators who are dedicated and have the resources to uncover the full potential of every child,” said National Education Association President Becky Pringle. “Unfortunately, today, we continue to find ourselves in a five-alarm crisis, with staffing shortages in schools across the country.

“Moreover, we have a shortage of professional pay, basic dignity, and respect for the professionals they are. Educators proudly support the American Teacher Act, which will meet the goal of addressing educator shortage with long-term solutions, not Band-Aid approaches. We must recruit large numbers of diverse educators into the profession and retain qualified and experienced educators in our schools to support our students in learning recovery and thriving in today’s world. We are grateful to Congresswoman Wilson for standing by our educators and fighting for our students.”

Florida in, Florida out

A Florida leader, Keith Sonderling, secured Senate confirmation as Deputy Secretary of Labor. In January, Trump nominated the Gunster lawyer to work under newly confirmed Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer.

The West Palm Beach Republican ultimately saw a close 53-46 confirmation vote, with the Senate voting purely across party lines. Both Moody and Scott supported his confirmation.

However, this week, a former Florida delegation member nominated for a key post was withdrawn from consideration. Former Rep. Dave Weldon, an Indian American Republican, had been nominated by Trump as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director. However, amid scrutiny over his anti-vaccine views, the White House withdrew his name from consideration immediately ahead of a scheduled hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.

He is the third Trump nominee to withdraw from consideration. The other two were Florida men: Former Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration as Attorney General and Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister withdrew from consideration as Director of the Drug Enforcement Agency.

On this day

March 14, 1794 — “Patent issued for cotton gin” via the National Archives — Such machines had been around for centuries when Eli Whitney made his improvements. However, Whitney’s device was the first to clean short-staple cotton; a single machine could produce up to 50 pounds of cleaned cotton daily. It made cotton a profitable crop for the first time. Ultimately, however, the most significant impact of the cotton gin was on the growth of slavery. Though the cotton gin reduced the labor of removing seeds, it did not reduce the number of enslaved people forced to grow and pick the cotton. The opposite occurred.

March 14, 1865 — “Confederacy approves Black soldiers” via History.com — With the main Rebel armies facing long odds against much larger Union armies, the Confederacy, in a desperate measure, reluctantly approves the use of Black troops. The situation was bleak for the Confederates in the Spring of 1865. The Yankees had captured large swathes of Southern territory, General William T. Sherman’s Union army was tearing through the Carolinas, and General Robert E. Lee was trying valiantly to hold the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, against General Ulysses S. Grant’s growing force.

Happy birthday

Best wishes to Rep. Mike Haridopolos, who turns 55 on Saturday, March 15.

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Peter Schorsch publishes Delegation, compiled by Jacob Ogles, edited and assembled by Phil Ammann and Ryan Nicol, with contributions by A.G. Gancarski.

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President Donald Trump is set to visit the Justice Department on Friday to rally support for his administration’s tough-on-crime agenda, an appearance expected to double as a victory lap after he emerged legally and politically unscathed from two federal prosecutions that were dismissed after his election win last fall.

“I’m going to set out my vision,” the Republican President said Thursday about the purpose for a visit the White House is billing as “historic.”

The venue selection for the speech underscores Trump’s keen interest in the department and desire to exert influence over it following criminal investigations that shadowed his first four years in office and subsequent campaign. The visit, the first by Trump and the first by any President in a decade, brings him into the belly of an institution he has disparaged in searing terms for years but one that he has sought to reshape by installing loyalists and members of his personal defense team in top leadership positions.

Although there’s some precedent for Presidents to speak to the Justice Department workforce from the building’s ceremonial Great Hall, Trump’s trip two months into his second term is particularly striking. That’s because of his unique status as a onetime criminal defendant indicted by the agency he is now poised to address and because his remarks are likely to feature an airing of grievances over his exposure to the criminal justice system — including an FBI search in 2022 of his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach for classified documents.

Trump’s visit also comes at a time when Attorney General Pam Bondi has asserted that the department needs to be depoliticized even as critics assert agency leadership is injecting politics into the decision-making process.

“President Trump will visit the Department of Justice to give remarks on restoring law and order, removing violent criminals from our communities, and ending the weaponization of justice against Americans for their political leanings,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

The relationship between Presidents and Justice Department leaders has waxed and waned over the decades depending on the personalities of the officeholders and the sensitivity of the investigations that have dominated the day. The dynamic between President Joe Biden, a Democrat, and his Attorney General, Merrick Garland, was known to be fraught in part because of special counsel investigations that Garland oversaw into Biden’s mishandling of classified information and into the firearms and tax affairs of his son Hunter.

When it comes to setting its agenda, the Justice Department historically takes a cue from the White House but looks to maintain its independence on individual criminal investigations.

Trump has upended such norms.

He encouraged specific investigations during his first term and tried to engineer the firing of Robert Mueller, the special counsel assigned to investigate ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 campaign. He also endured difficult relationships with his first two handpicked Attorneys General — Jeff Sessions was fired immediately after the 2018 Midterm Election, and William Barr resigned weeks after publicly disputing Trump’s bogus claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.

Arriving for a second term in January fresh off a landmark Supreme Court opinion that reaffirmed a President’s unshakable control of the Justice Department, Trump has appeared determined to clear from his path any potential obstacles, including by appointing Bondi — a former Florida Attorney General who was part of Trump’s defense team at his first impeachment trial — and Kash Patel, another close ally, to serve as his FBI Director.

At her January confirmation hearing, Bondi appeared to endorse Trump’s false claims of mass voter fraud in 2020 by refusing to answer directly whether Trump had lost to Biden. She also echoed his position that he had been unfairly “targeted” by the Justice Department despite the wealth of evidence prosecutors say they amassed. She regularly praises him in Fox News Channel appearances and proudly noted that she had removed portraits of Biden, Garland and Vice President Kamala Harris from a Justice Department wall upon arriving.

“We all adore Donald Trump, and we want to protect him and fight for his agenda. And the people of America overwhelmingly elected him for his agenda,” Bondi said in a recent Fox interview with Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump.

Even before Bondi had been confirmed, the Justice Department fired department employees who served on special counsel Jack Smith’s team, which charged Trump with plotting to overturn the 2020 election and with hoarding classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. Both cases were dismissed last November in line with longstanding Justice Department policy against indicting sitting Presidents.

Officials also demanded from the FBI lists of thousands of employees who worked on investigations into the Jan 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, when a mob of Trump’s supporters stormed the building in an effort to halt the certification of the electoral vote, and fired prosecutors who had participated in the cases. And they’ve ordered the dismissal of a criminal case against New York Mayor Eric Adams by saying the charges had handicapped the Democrat’s ability to partner in the Republican administration’s fight against illegal immigration.

Leavitt is one of three administration officials who face a lawsuit from The Associated Press on First and Fifth Amendment grounds. The AP says the three are punishing the news agency for editorial decisions they oppose. The White House says the AP is not following an executive order to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.

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Republished with permission of The Associated Press.

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As Trevor Murphy pulls up to his dad’s 20-acre (8-hectare) grove in one of the fastest-growing counties in the United States, he points to the cookie-cutter, one-story homes encroaching on the orange trees from all sides.

“At some point, this isn’t going to be an orange grove anymore,” Murphy, a third-generation grower, says as he gazes at the rows of trees in Lake Wales, Florida. “You look around here, and it’s all houses, and that’s going to happen here.”

Polk County, which includes Lake Wales, contains more acres of citrus than any other county in Florida. And in 2023, more people moved to Polk County than any other county in the country.

Population growth, hurricanes and a vicious citrus greening disease have left the Florida orange industry reeling. Consumers are drinking less orange juice, citrus growers are folding up their operations in the state and the major juice company Tropicana is struggling to stay afloat. With huge numbers of people moving into Florida’s orange growing areas, developers are increasingly building homes on what were once orange groves.

Many growers are now making the difficult decision to sell orange groves that have been in their families for generations to developers building homes to house the growing population.

Others, like Murphy, are sticking it out, hoping to survive until a bug-free tree or other options arrive to repel the disease or treat the trees.

Mounting concerns

When Hurricane Irma blasted through the state’s orange belt in 2017, Florida’s signature crop already had been on a downward spiral for two decades because of the greening disease. Next came a major freeze and two more hurricanes in 2022, followed by two hurricanes last year. A tree that loses branches and foliage in a hurricane can take three years to recover, Murphy said.

Those catastrophes contributed to a 90% decline in orange production over the past two decades. Citrus groves in Florida, which covered more than 832,00 acres (336,698 hectares) at the turn of the century, populated scarcely 275,000 acres (111,288 hectares) last year, and California has eclipsed Florida as the nation’s leading citrus producer.

“Losing the citrus industry is not an option. This industry is … so ingrained in Florida. Citrus is synonymous with Florida,” Matt Joyner, CEO of trade association Florida Citrus Mutual told Florida lawmakers recently.

Nevertheless, Alico Inc., one of Florida’s biggest growers, announced this year that it plans to wind down its citrus operations on more than 53,000 acres (21,000 hectares), saying its production has declined by almost three-quarters in a decade.

That decision hurts processors, including Tropicana, which rely on Alico’s fruit to produce orange juice and must now operate at reduced capacity. Orange juice consumption in the U.S. has been declining for the past two decades, despite a small bump during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A prominent growers group, the Gulf Citrus Growers Association, closed its doors last year.

Location, location, location

Pressure on citrus farming is also growing from one of the state’s other biggest industries: real estate.

Florida expanded by more than 467,000 people last year to 23 million people, making it the third largest state in the nation. And more homes must be built to house that ever-growing population.

Some prominent, multigenerational citrus families each have been putting hundreds of acres (hectares) of groves up for sale for millions of dollars, or as much as $25,000 an acre.

Murphy owns several hundred acres (hectares) of groves and says he has no plans to abandon the industry, though last year he closed a citrus grove caretaking business that managed thousands of acres for other owners.

However, he also has a real estate license, which is useful given the amount of land that is changing hands. He recently sold off acres in Polk County to a home developer, and has used that money to pay off debt and develop plans to replant thousands of trees in more productive groves.

“I would like to think that we’re at the bottom, and we’re starting to climb back up that hill,” Murphy says.

A bug-free tree

A whole ecosystem of businesses dependent on Florida citrus is at risk if the crops fail, including 33,000 full-time and part-time jobs and an economic impact of $6.8 billion in Florida alone. Besides growers, there are juice processors, grove caretakers, fertilizer sellers, packing houses, nurseries and candy manufacturers, all hoping for a fix for citrus greening disease.

Tom Davidson, whose parents founded Davidson of Dundee Citrus Candy and Jelly Factory in Lake Wales in 1966, says the drop in citrus production has impacted what flavor jellies the business is able to produce and the prices it charges to customers.

“We’re really hoping that the scientists can get this figured out so we can we can get back to what we did,” Davidson says.

Researchers have been working for eight years on a genetically modified tree that can kill the tiny insects responsible for citrus greening. The process involves inserting a gene into a citrus tree that produces a protein that can kill baby Asian citrus psyllids by making holes in their guts, according to Lukasz Stelinski, an entomology professor at the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences’ Citrus Research and Education Center.

It could be at least three years before bug-resistant trees can be planted, leaving Florida growers looking for help from other technologies. They include planting trees inside protective screens and covering young trees with white bags to keep out the bugs, injecting trees with an antibiotic, and finding trees that have become resistant to greening through natural mutation and distributing them to other groves.

“It’s kind of like being a Lions fan before the Detroit Lions started to win games,” Stelinski says. “I’m hoping that we are making that turnaround.”

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Republished with permission of The Associated Press.

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