BRADENTON — The citrus business should be a bit sweeter for Dean Mixon this season.
The owners of Mixon Fruit Farms expect to gain more orders for packaged fruit as a result of the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently lifting a ban on commercial citrus shipments from Florida.
The ban removal, which took effect Oct. 22, gives Mixon Fruit Farms and citrus companies statewide 10 citrus growing states and U.S. territories where fruit such as oranges, grapefruit and tangerines now can be shipped.
The three-year ban included California, Arizona, Louisiana, Hawaii and Texas as well as five outlying island territories.
Before the ban took effect, Florida shipped an average of 1.2 million cartons of citrus a year to those states which had an economic impact of about $12 million, according to the Florida Citrus Packers Association.
“This is big stuff,” said Richard Kinney, executive vice president of the Florida Citrus Packers. “Growers who had canker in their groves before had little or no markets where they could ship fruit to. Now they’re able to move their product again.”
For Mixon Fruit Farms, the absence of cool weather in Florida has slowed the ripening of citrus. However, when the volume of oranges and grapefruit available for shipment increases Mixon expects good things.
“Hopefully business will get a little bit easier,” Dean Mixon said. “It’s just a matter of logistics such as weather cooperating with us. We had business in Louisiana at one time that hopefully we’ll be able to pick back up.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture had quarantined Florida oranges and grapefruits because of crop pests and diseases. The USDA removed the ban after research showed fruit isn’t at risk of spreading canker if it has been disinfected.
Steve Futch, a Manatee County citrus agent for the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, said the ban removal could spark more demand for Florida citrus.
“Anytime you can increase market potential that gives you additional opportunities to sell where you haven’t sold in the past it’s a good thing,” Futch said. “I’m sure that a number of companies (statewide) will start sending fruit into those markets.”
At Albritton Fruit Co. in Sarasota, General Manager Tom Houser said the removal of the ban won’t dramatically increase business but it will help.
“It’s not like it’s recreated the wheel for us,” Houser said. “It will be an added bonus. The timing of this was fabulous. Christmas is 90 percent of our shipping in the year.”
Mixon estimated citrus shipments to states that were previously banned accounted for less than 5 percent of his business. However, he said that’s fewer customers Mixon Fruit Farms will have to turn down in the future now that the states are open for shipments.
“Before, we’d have to tell them you couldn’t ship the fruit,” Mixon said. “Hopefully it will allow us to bring some of those clients back.”
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