Watchful Eyes

MELBOURNE (AP) - Just as Florida's fruit shippers are entering their busy period, they've been saddled with some additional scrutiny - full-time government inspectors in the packinghouses, checking citrus for signs of canker blemishes.

It's not that the U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors are unwanted, but ...

"I know they're just doing their job," said Jim Harvey, an owner of Harvey's Groves in Rockledge - one of Brevard County's major fruit shippers. "But it certainly is inconvenient."

Fruit growers and shippers like Harvey's are expected to be steadily busy between now and Dec. 12, the deadline for ordering fruit and gift baskets to ensure Christmas delivery.

Thanksgiving through Christmas, as it is for other retailers, is an all-important busy season for fruit shippers. Growers say between 50 percent and 75 percent of their retail sales are made between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Florida growers produce orange and grapefruit for juices, while the majority of higher-end fruit, such as the zipper-skin tangerines and navel oranges, are mainstays of gift-fruit packages that find their way all over the United States.

Steve Maxwell, owner/president of Maxwell Groves, said the action was mandated by the USDA. He said government inspectors were inspecting the groves last year but are now concentrating on the packinghouses and processing plants.

Maxwell said he has no problem with the inspections.

"It's OK with me," he said. "They have been fantastic and very helpful."

Donna Garren, executive vice president of the Orlando-based Florida Gift Fruit Shippers Association, said she expects 2.5 million boxes of fruit to be sent as gifts this year, about the same as last year. A fruit box holds about 90 pounds of oranges or 85 pounds of grapefruit.

That's a standard production measurement in the citrus industry. Individual boxes of fruit thatcustomers order as gifts generally weigh much less.

The USDA inspectors in the packinghouses, while a bit of an inconvenience to growers, actually should benefit the state citrus industry, said Andrew Meadows, a spokesman for the Florida Citrus Mutual.

The USDA just issued a rule change allowing untainted fresh citrus from Florida groves where inspectors might have found canker to be shipped to most states in the nation.

But, previously, if a canker had been found in a grove, then the entire fruit from the grove would be barred from shipping.

The new regulations allow for the shipment of "asymptomatic" fresh citrus fruit to non-citrus producing states in the domestic market.

In addition, grove certification no longer will be required for the shipment of fresh Florida fruit. Instead, a qualified sample will be taken from each load and inspected by USDA inspectors at the packinghouse.

Fruit that is found to have canker symptoms will not be shipped.

The change allows the grower to have his crop picked and will probably help the larger growers, Maxwell said.

About 10 percent of Florida citrus goes to fresh channels, with the remainder processed into juice, according to the Florida Citrus Mutual.

Canker is a bacterial disease that ruins the appearance of citrus skin. Florida has been struggling with the current round of canker for more than 10 years.

Last year, the USDA banned Florida citrus growers from shipping their fresh produce to other citrus-producing states - Arizona, California and Texas - if canker had been found in their groves.

Those prohibitions still are remain in effect.

Still, the new regulation "frees up a lot of fruit for shipping," Meadows said.

Highlands Today reporter Bill Rogers contributed to this story.