Buchanan tours Myakka orange grove after passing citrus tax relief

Surrounded by rows and rows Valencia and Hamlin oranges on the cusp of an early bloom, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, made a pit stop in Myakka City on Monday to discuss with farmers how his recently passed tax relief bill would help storm-scorned citrus groves.

Steve Sorrells and his son, Justin, run Sorrells Citrus. The 1,100-acre grove produces oranges for juice, but lately they’ve felt a little squeezed.

“Company-wide because of the hurricane — so far we’re early into the whole season of harvesting — but we’re 40 to 50 percent down from what we would have picked last year, or what we picked last year,” Justin Sorrells said.

The exact statewide damage count is mere speculation, Steve Sorrells said, as the effects of Hurricane Irma could have affected each grove differently. But the greening disease — a bacteria transmitted by insects, stunting growth and turning the orange’s taste bitter — coupled with hurricane-force winds “exasperated it and made it even worse than what it would have normally been.”

“There literally has not been some issue, some disease, some condition that literally could put the industry out of business,” he said, having been in the business for more than 30 years. “But we’re still here.”

Buchanan’s Emergency Citrus Disease Response Act was tacked onto the Tax Cut and Jobs Act that passed in December, which offers farmers who are replacing diseased or damaged trees a full deduction in the first year, giving incentives for growers to plant more trees, and helping “everybody at every level,” Buchanan said. If the farmer owns at least 50 percent of the grove, they are allowed to use the deduction even if investors are involved.

“When you think of Florida, you think of orange juice and oranges, so I think we’re in a good position from that standpoint today,” he added.

The Sorrells say they plant between 50,000 and 60,000 trees every year on their property that can hold about 165,000. This time around, they estimate it will be need to replant twice that amount.

“We’d like to put a lot more trees back in the ground and get more tax relief for that,” Steve Sorrells said.

Buchanan also addressed the Trump administration’s plan announced last week to expand offshore oil drilling, including in the Gulf of Mexico, saying he would try to meet with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and that he would be writing a “very firm statement.”

“If they want to do something in Texas and Louisiana that’s up to them, but in terms of Florida we’re going to fight back,” he said.

Heading back to the nation’s capital later in the day, Buchanan’s “top priority” would be passing funding for hurricane relief. The U.S. House of Representatives in December passed their version of the $81 billion disaster bill, of which $2.6 billion would be for agriculture.

This story was originally published January 8, 2018 at 5:10 PM with the headline "Buchanan tours Myakka orange grove after passing citrus tax relief."