Keep Your Motor Running If You Don’t Want To Get Run Over [Opinion[

Mike Sparks_FCM

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During our Annual Industry Conference in June, it is custom for our organization to provide our members with a recap of Mutual’s activities within the past year. To say it’s been a busy 12 months would be an understatement.

One of primary responsibilities of our organization is making sure Florida’s citrus industry is heard in Washington, D.C., and Tallahassee, and did we ever keep our motor running between the two. In February, Mutual conducted a very successful “Fly-In” to Washington to talk citrus with federal representatives and regulators.
Growers got to meet with key members of Florida’s Congressional delegation; Congressmen Dennis Ross, Vern Buchanan, Steve Southerland, and Tom Rooney among others.

We had ample time to discuss the issues our industry faces including pest and disease, labor, and regulation. Congressman Ross, as a member of the House Judiciary Committee, has been our point person on immigration and H-2A reform while Rooney and Southerland both sit on the House Agriculture Committee and will be key as the 2012 Farm Bill progresses.
But Mutual’s activity in Washington included much more than the fly-in. The organization’s big federal project for the year was advancing a proposal to capture a portion of the tariff on imported citrus products to help fund invasive pest and disease research.

This very exciting plan could provide the industry with a dedicated long-term source of research funding. U.S. Senator Bill Nelson leads the charge on this proposed citrus trust fund. He has been a fantastic ally for Florida citrus. Mutual remains optimistic we can hook the measure onto a Customs Reauthorization bill later this year. In the meantime, Senator Nelson was able to garner $10 million over the next four years from USDA to support citrus research. That’s 6¢ a box!

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On The Homefront

Closer to home, the 2012 session in Tallahassee was extremely successful. Mutual and agriculture in general had several wins. Redistricting was the first order of business during the session, and agriculture groups across Florida worked hard to make sure agriculture was represented in the new district maps. You will be glad to know that we are.
And due to Mutual’s hard work, Florida’s $70 billion state budget contained a $2 million appropriation for citrus research. The money will be sent to the Citrus Research and Development Foundation as of July 1, 2012 and should help ease the tax burden on growers. The $2 million equates to 1.2¢ per box.

In addition, we were able to amend the state’s tax code to allow citrus harvesting equipment to use red diesel. This could save growers more than half a million dollars per year. Speaking of tax breaks, thanks to the efforts of Florida agriculture groups including Mutual, off-farm packinghouses will not have to pay taxes on electricity. The measure passed in the omnibus economic development bill.

Of course, nothing would have been possible without our stalwart friends in the legislature: Senators JD Alexander and Alan Hays; Representatives Denise Grimsley, Ben Albritton, and Steve Crisafulli; and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam. These folks truly are champions of agriculture and we are proud to list them as allies.

Growing Kinship

A big part of our success in Tallahassee this year was made possible by the strong relationship we forged with Gov. Rick Scott. He attended a VIP lunch at the Conference for the third year in a row. And let me tell you, he understands the importance of citrus to the state of Florida and the challenges we all face. We also had him in a grove for the crop estimate breakfast in October. We think these face-to-face meetings are a big reason he did not veto the $2 million in research funding appropriated by the legislature and the fact he has vowed to continue to help our industry.

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