Florida conducts citrus study

The Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association (FNGLA) and Florida Citrus Mutual jointly developed a survey of citrus growers to assess the current state of the citrus nursery tree market in Florida.

Citrus growers answered the confidential survey which asked questions about availability, advance purchase contracts and varieties.

Highlights from the study include:
•    73.2% of the survey respondents said they are obtaining the citrus nursery trees they need.
•    40.2% say they contract 12 months ahead of time to get citrus nursery trees, while an additional 24.2% contract at least 18 months in advance.
•    83.9% are satisfied with the quality of the citrus nursery trees they purchase.
•    69.6% plan to plant more trees per acre in the future.
•    84.8% indicate they will either maintain or increase their future citrus nursery tree orders.

“This was an excellent exercise for us and we thank FNGLA leadership for working with Florida Citrus Mutual on it,” said Michael W. Sparks, Executive VP/CEO of Florida Citrus Mutual.

“The survey gives us some useful insights indicating citrus growers plan to replant in the future,” said Ben Bolusky, CEO/Executive Vice President of FNGLA. “This speaks well for Florida and for FNGLA’s citrus nursery tree grower members. FNGLA will continue this important dialogue with Florida Citrus Mutual.”

See all the results here: http://www.fngla.org/news/archive/2012/docs/CitrusSurveyResults_09_12..pdf