Senate President-Designate Albritton highlights importance of citrus industry recovery

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Heading into the 2024 Legislative Session, Florida Republican Senate President-Designate Ben Albritton told Florida’s Voice he is looking into helping the citrus industry recovery as part of the state’s budget.

On Florida’s Voice with Brendon Leslie, Albritton said the citrus industry has been “pummeled by citrus greening over the last 15 or 17 years.”

He said this year, the industry is expecting around 20 million citrus production boxes, when about 16-17 years ago, it produced 242 million boxes.

“That’s a substantial decrease,” Albritton said. “The hurricane that came through, Idalia, had some impact, but Hurricane Ian just had a devastating impact on the citrus industry, and in the heartland of Florida, and that is where essentially, that’s ground zero, for citrus growing here.”

Regarding the state budget, Albritton said that he, along with other state leaders, have been working “very closely” with people in the citrus industry to “understand what a recovery package would look like.”

“We very badly need to be addressing that,” he said. “So to see how that evolves and find out, you know, where the state can play a role in helping support the signature industry here in Florida, that’s going to be exciting.”

According to the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Hurricane Ian’s path touched roughly 375,000 acres of citrus groves across the state. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services estimated Hurricane Ian inflicted up to $675 million in damages to Florida’s citrus growers.

Florida Citrus Mutual CEO Matt Joyner said he is “hopeful” Florida’s citrus industry will continue to rebound.

“This rebound will not happen overnight – it’s going to take time to recover from the effects of citrus greening and recent weather events,” Joyner said in a press release. “Yet, Florida growers have an enduring spirit and remain committed to delivering orange juice to families across the nation and around the world.” 

Albritton said the state has “high expectations” that they’re going to be able to provide some recovery dollars and “maybe some different flexibilities” to the citrus industry to be able to help it recover.

The senator said the federal government “moves very slowly” and said advocates of the citrus industry in Florida have been working “very heavily to create relationships in Washington and be able to express to them what the challenges are in the industry.”

“It’s very difficult to get a machine that size laser focused on an industry like Florida,” Albritton said.

Moreover, he said Florida has done a “very good job” over recent years to support research and various programs to support the industry. 

During the 2023-2024 fiscal year, which began July 1, the Florida Legislature funded $65 million to support Florida citrus. This investment includes $38 million to support grower research and field trials, according to a press release.

Florida Citrus Mutual continues to advocate for recovery funding from Hurricanes Ian and Nicole. Congress allocated $3.7 billion dollars to assist producers impacted by natural disasters nationwide in 2022, but relief funds for recovery and replanting efforts have been slow to come, according to Florida Citrus Mutual.

“So we’ve been fiscally responsible in Florida,” Albritton said. “We have resources at our exposure, resources at our disposal and, you know, that has been a place we’ve invested. And it’s been helping the industry along and now we have light at the end of the tunnel.”

Albritton said not only is agriculture an “incredibly important part” of the state, but it is a “huge part of who [he] is,” as he is a fourth generation citrus grower.

“There’s something magical about interacting with nature on a farm and producing a crop that helps feed people,” Albritton said. “There’s something natural about it, there’s something that is honorable about it. And the folks that I spend time with, they’re just salt of the earth people.”

As the 2024 Legislative Session began Jan. 9, Albritton said he is looking forward to the “business of session.”

He pointed to an initiative regarding workforce needs in healthcare that Florida Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, has taken on.

“In Florida, that is an emerging problem,” Albritton said. “It is a large-scale problem. And they have gotten very creative and very thoughtful and energetically pursuing solutions in that space.”

Albritton gave Passidomo “credit for wanting to tackle this real need.”