The heat is on and we're just not talking about triple digit temperatures. Elected officials seek our endorsement, some form of support and, at a minimum, dollars for the campaign. The months of July and August are vacation months for elected officials with the State in recess during July and federal representatives off in August. The CCM directors have a long list of visits with several different representatives and wannabe representatives this summer.
These meetings are designed to bring the face of the citrus industry, the family farmer, to the attention of policy makers. Topics for discussion include water, ESA, biological opinions, ACP/HLB and budget issues. As we write this comment six sessions are on the books with another half dozen in the planning stages.
By the end of the summer CCM working with industry partners Sunkist and CCQC should achieve a successful conclusion to the Korean export protocols and something positive on the Australian front. A serious discussion with USDA and Florida is evolving over the desire of the Floridian industry to ship fresh fruit from areas exposed to citrus black spot.
USDA has published a technical paper discussion the Florida situation concluding that fresh fruit could be moved safely. Citrus Mutual is vehemently opposing this suggestion arguing that several documents and papers discussing why fruit can be a vector was ignored, conveniently by parties. California's one representative on the scientific review committee believes the effort conclusion is extremely short sighted. Existing camaraderie developed in conjunction with HLB is gradually slipping away.
ESA activities at the Federal level are a maelstrom of confusion. The Administration is ignoring protests from state governments such as Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California because of their arbitrary and scientifically weak decision making. Stakeholders are weighing in with coordinated messages. The impacts are mostly in the Northwest with potential fallout occurring in Northern California and along the Central coast. The issue is very similar to the water biological opinions and we're confident that the outcome can be parallel as well.
Most likely we'll reach a boiling point in late August or early September with the state budget. The unwillingness to address the situation, win or lose, by state leadership is frustrating. With the governor declaring that the water bond should be removed from the ballot the state assembly leader is holding that card as a bargaining chip. A smart political move but it doesn't solve the budget situation.
Yep, the summer season will be anything but quiet.
