Florida Citrus Mutual (FCM) announced that an Oct. 12 event in Hardee County originally scheduled as the initial crop forecast luncheon will now be a post-Hurricane Ian information meeting. Lunch will still be provided.
The meeting, open to all Florida citrus growers, will be held at 11:30 a.m. at the Putnam Ranch, 8290 Martin Lane, Zolfo Springs. FCM asks that growers RSVP to Melanie Burns (melanieb@flcitrusmutual.com or 863-682-1116) if they plan to attend.
FCM pointed out that some routes to Putnam Ranch may be temporarily closed due to flooding from Hurricane Ian. The association recommends checking fl511.com for the latest road closings and accessibility.
Matt Joyner, FCM chief executive officer, explained the change to the meeting’s purpose: “While the luncheon was initially intended to kick off the season with the USDA crop forecast announcement, we will now be pivoting our focus to provide a number of resources to growers in an effort to assist in the recovery process. Representatives from the USDA Farm Service Agency, Natural Resource Conservation Service, crop insurance agencies and other organizations will be on hand to share information on available programs, answer questions and provide assistance to growers.”
Joyner also noted that FCM is working to collect damage data that will be critical when working with legislators and policymakers on potential recovery assistance packages. Growers with groves impacted by Hurricane Ian are being asked to complete the association’s damage assessment survey. Joyner said all individual information will be kept confidential; only aggregate numbers and percentages will be shared.
Early attempts to assess damage from Hurricane Ian were complicated by flooding and cell phone and internet outages. However, the hurricane that tore through the citrus industry Sept. 28–29 caused extensive fruit loss; see an early report.
Source: Florida Citrus Mutual