The Florida Citrus Show provided an opportunity for Citrus Research and Field Trial Foundation (CRAFT) Executive Director Steven Hall to share the organization’s accomplishments and future plans. Hall moderated a panel discussion and spoke about the organization’s work.
“Thanks to Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, Senate President Ben Albritton, the Florida Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis, we’ve been able to plow $100 million of funding this year into the state’s citrus industry,” Hall said. “We are working with growers in North Florida in the cold-hardy region, throughout the citrus regions on the river and in the rest of the state to try to find varieties they’re interested in growing and finding research results that we’re able to identify for long-term solutions to citrus greening.”
CRAFT was founded to help growers combat HLB by studying disease treatments and new citrus varieties in real-world commercial settings.
“With that funding, we’re able to work with growers to study new varieties everybody is interested in and put them into practice in real-world settings so that we can prove or disprove the ideas that are coming out of our fabulous research institutions,” Hall said.
He stressed that CRAFT caters to citrus-growing operations of all shapes and sizes — from more established farms to growers still trying to find their footing.
“We work with growers of all sizes — ones that are just starting out to multigenerational growers that know what they’re doing. We’re excited about that,” Hall said. “They’re invested and want to stay in the program.”
Hall added that the history of Florida agriculture is built around the citrus industry. The investment the state is making in growers means interest in the industry will remain.
“We may not be what we were 20 years ago, but citrus is always going to be here and has a long future ahead of it,” Hall concluded.
By Clint Thompson