By Clint Thompson and Frank Giles
The Citrus Research and Field Trial Foundation (CRAFT) hopes to plant nearly 2 million trees this year, thanks to a record amount of funding from the Florida Legislature.
Steven Hall, CRAFT executive director, was part of a road show in September that included stops in Fort Pierce, Lake Placid and Lake Alfred. Hall discusses how a bulk of the $100 million allocated will be used to put new trees in the ground this year.
“At least $70 million of our program funding this year will be going to planting new trees in the ground. If you look at our rates and what we’re paying this year, the goal is to plant at least two million trees,” Hall said. “We are well on board as of today, Sept. 4, we have about $35 million in applications in hand already. We’re well on the way to that goal. With the idea of putting 2 million trees in the ground, there’s a lot of interest, a lot of excitement around that. We’re excited about the feedback we’ve gotten.”
Background
CRAFT was established to provide Florida citrus growers a mechanism that trialed the efficacy of citrus greening/HLB treatments that were individually tested and required further research when used in commercial citrus groves. CRAFT projects are located in 16 Florida counties, representing all major growing regions.
More than $47 million had been released to growers through participation payments as of June.
Apply Now
Hall emphasized a few take-home messages for interested participants:
- The deadline to submit applications is Oct. 3.
- Interest is very high, so don’t delay if you are interested in applying.
“While this is a not a first come, first served program, these applications are coming in fast,” Hall said. “There is still some time before the deadline, but there could be a time where we are getting close to our funding capacity, so now is the time is get those applications to our team.”
Growers can apply to CRAFT programs here.