Disaster for small growers

Re: the March 21 commentaries by John Krist, "County growers face a devastating citrus killer," and the Ag Futures Alliance, "Like orange juice? Protect it":

While the articles explained the economic threat the citrus industry faces if the Asian citrus psyllid and Huanglongbing become established in our state, they failed to convey the potential disaster to small citrus growers, like myself.

My family immigrated from Germany in the early 1900s and started farming along with other families in Bardsdale. The ideal climate, fertile soil, and plentiful and relatively inexpensive water produced crops such as lima beans, walnuts and apricots.

Later, citrus, including Valencia oranges, became the primary tree crop on the acreage I inherited from my parents. My dad never felt the need to diversify his crops because Valencia oranges were so profitable during most of his farming life.

After his death in 2000, this changed for several reasons: Navel oranges became available year round with the importation of Australian navels in the summer; the popularity of seedless, easy-to-peel mandarins impacted Valencia sales; and fewer families squeezed their own orange juice, preferring the convenience of packaged products in the store.

As demand fell, so did the prices. Farming costs, however, continue to rise. This pattern of declining income and rising expenses has made it challenging to farm Valencia oranges.

Though farmers have faced other invasive insects and diseases, none is more deadly than the ACP/HLB combination. Growers are already being assessed more money on the fruit they pack to fight these invaders. When the psyllid arrives, a quarantine will be imposed on growers within 20 miles of the find, meaning we will not be able to move our harvested fruit out of the quarantined area unless we first clean all fruit of leaves and stems, adding more cost.

If HLB attacks our trees, we will have to remove them. I started to transition to organic production in 2008. As of today, there is no organically approved material to control ACP, so if forced to treat for the psyllid, I would not be able to sell my crop as organic after I become certified later this year.

I am not in a financial position to bulldoze my citrus trees and start over with another crop. Words like "devastating" and "disaster" are being attached to this problem — they are not an exaggeration. If HLB becomes established here, many farmers, especially smaller farmers, will have no other option but to sell their property.

When I took over the farm, I expected to be growing citrus until I retired or died. The Asian citrus psyllid and Huanglongbing could force the end of my family farming heritage in Ventura County sooner than that.

— Marjie Bartels lives in Fillmore.