HIGHLANDS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — Citrus growers say they lost a majority, if not all, of their fruit during Hurricane Ian and they are still waiting to receive disaster aid.
“It wreaked havoc,” said Trevor Murphy, of Kahn Citrus Management, who owns 3,000 acres of citrus groves in Polk, Highlands, Hardee and DeSoto counties.
Some of his groves lost 60% of their crop. Others lost it all.
Murphy said as he prepares for the next growing season, he is still trying to get back on his feet.
“We still are short. After the crop insurance, we received probably 30-40% of our normal intake of revenue. These federal aid monies will help us recapture, not 100% of where we would have been, but getting us close to that,” he said.
Highlands County contains 65,000 acres of citrus groves, which covers 13% of the county.
It’s a major economic driving force in the county, which lost 65% of its citrus from Hurricane Ian.
On top of the hurricane, citrus growers are also having to deal with freezes, droughts and a virus known as “citrus greening.”
“They’ve used up their savings. That’s why it’s so important to be able to get to these federal programs so that they can get that money to continue to invest in trying to bring these groves back,” said Ray Royce, executive director of Highlands County Citrus Growers Association.
On Tuesday, Royce and Murphy attended a roundtable discussion in Lake Placid with Sen. Rick Scott (R – Florida) and Rep. Scott Franklin (R – District 18).
The lawmakers are sponsoring a bill in their respective chambers of Congress aimed at improving access to disaster relief aid allocated last year.
Sen. Scott said the legislation would direct the Department of Agriculture to use block grants to get the money out faster.
“They’ve got to spend their money to get ready for the next season and if they don’t have the money because the moneys’ coming out so slow, because this has now been, what, 6 months since the hurricane and they’re not seeing any resources from the federal government. I mean it’s a program the federal government has so they ought to get the money out faster,” he said.