Recent USDA Citrus Greening Strike Force

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced the creation of a multi-agency “emergency response framework” to address citrus greening. The framework is intended to better coordinate resources to fight this disease, which has threatened to cripple Florida’s citrus industry. The framework brings together USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and National Institute of Food and Agriculture, as well as state departments of agriculture and citrus industry representatives, in support of research and information collection and dissemination. In a press release announcing the creation of the new framework, USDA Secretary of Agriculture calls on Congress to “quickly pass a new Farm, Food, and Jobs Bill that continues to support this kind of research to protect a crop worth more than $3 billion in the last harvest.”

The USDA press release is attached. FINAL USDA Citrus Greening 12 12 2013. Information about the multi-agency response can be found at this USDA website.

Dean Mead’s Agribusiness Industry Team will continue to monitor developments relating to the multi-agency response. Please contact Dennis Corrick, shareholder in the Fort Pierce office, at dcorrick@deanmead.com with questions.