Emergency loans coming for Florida citrus growers

The Florida citrus industry is in crisis post-Irma, with flooding having wrought a singular devastation to the crop and trees themselves.

In the hopes of helping the imperiled citrus sector — specifically farmers whose groves suffered physical or economic damage during the storm — Florida Gov. Rick Scott Friday activated a $25 million Florida Citrus Emergency Loan Program.

The application process ends at the end of November.  Growers are eligible for up to $150,000 each of the $25 million available.

In a statement, Gov. Scott noted that Irma caused “hundreds of millions of dollars of losses for the Florida citrus industry,” and the emergency loans will be a “valuable resource for affected business owners.”

Scott is working with United States Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue in the hopes of getting federal relief.

Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam said that Irma’s path “could not have been more lethal to Florida agriculture – especially our citrus industry.“

“We’re all committed to getting growers the help they need, as quickly as possible, to be able to rebuild. I thank Governor Scott for his leadership and for making financial assistance available for Florida’s growers devastated by Hurricane Irma,” Putnam said.

Putnam and Scott have been talking since the storm about the damage inflicted on the ag sector, including a scheduled phone call Wednesday.

Scott noted on Wednesday in Jacksonville that some growers he’d talked with had lost their entire year of crops — a good example of what Commissioner Putnam previously called the “existential” impact of Irma’s destruction on Florida’s agriculture sector.

The loans obviously won’t make up for all the damage wrought by Irma.

As the Associated Press reported Wednesday, Irma inflicted more than $2.5 billion in damage to Florida’s agricultural community — with $760 million  in damages to oranges alone.