Letter to The Honorable Thad Cochran, Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriations, The Honorable Barbara Mikulski, Vice Chairwoman, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Honorable Jerry Moran, Chairman, Subcommittee on Agriculture, and The Honorable Jeff Merkley, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Agriculture - Funding Increase To Combat Citrus Greening Disease

Letter

Dear Chairman Cochran, Vice Chairwoman Mikulski, Chairman Moran, and Ranking Member Merkley:

As the House and Senate Appropriations Committees near an agreement on their respective Fiscal Year 2106 appropriations bills, we write to encourage your support for a critical source of research funding at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that's been a vital lifeline to the citrus industry: the Huanglongbing Multiagency Coordination Group (HLB-MAC).

Huanglongbing (HLB), also known as citrus greening disease, is a bacterial plant disease that is fatal for citrus trees and destroys their production, appearance and economic value. Florida has been battling HLB for many years, and recent crop reports indicate citrus greening has been the primary cause of a 30 percent decrease in citrus production over the past 11 years. Worse, the USDA's most recent economic estimates predict that the upcoming 2016 season's yield will be its lowest in 50 years, at approximately 80 million boxes. To put this precipitous drop in perspective, total citrus production in 2013 was 156 million boxes. That's nearly a 50 percent reduction in Florida's citrus production in just the past two years alone.

Unfortunately, this disease is not limited to the state of Florida. In recent years, HLB has spread to Texas, damaging significant portions of their grapefruit and orange industry. The disease's vector, the Asian citrus psyllid, has already been detected in California. Together the three states' citrus industries comprise over $11 billion in economic activity--all of which is threatened unless we can find a cure for HLB in the coming years.

The 2014 Farm Bill realized the necessary role of the USDA in finding a cure for citrus greening disease and authorized investments in both short and long-term research programs, which were fully funded in the agriculture appropriations bills that followed. We are requesting your support for this limited, yet extremely crucial funding to be included in the FY16 Agriculture Appropriations bill.

Working collaboratively across the industry, the HLB-MAC ensures scarce federal, state, and industry funds are allocated without duplication and to those projects with the highest likelihood of developing a cure for this devastating disease. The HLB-MAC is the only dedicated funding source that supports the development of short-term solutions that, to-date, have been incredibly successful in providing immediate relief to the citrus industry. Helping growers explore new possible solutions while they mitigate the damage of this disease, the HLB-MAC has been incredibly popular and effective, in spite of its limited personnel and funding.

The President's budget request included $7 million in funding for the HLB-MAC. While the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee allocated $2 million for the HLB-MAC, it is our understanding that the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee did not include any funding for this program in their FY16 bill. We respectfully ask that the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee support, at a minimum, the House-recommended funding level for the HLB-MAC in any negotiated appropriations bill for FY16.