Now that the initial excitement about the $104.5 million budget allotment for CRAFT begins to settle, there may be a sense of “Well, now what?”
That sentiment can be understandable, but here is what we all need to remember: The passage of the bill was not the finish line, it was the starting line.
So here are three things you can do to help you through the “Now What” phase.
It’s time to make active decisions. As we noted in last month’s column, now is the time to start planning and ordering your trees and IPCs if you’re planning a CRAFT project. It takes time to gather everything you need, and the longer growers wait to place orders for trees and Tree Defender IPCs, the more likely there will be delays and cost increases because of jams in the supply chain. Order early to get the best rates for your CRAFT project materials.
It’s time to grind. Bad news: There’s going to be some paperwork. There’s a significant sector of growers we talk to that will not even attempt these types of programs because of the difficulties encountered in past efforts. But the CRAFT program is different from those past efforts. We spoke to Steven Hall, the Executive Director of the CRAFT Foundation, and he said the whole process was developed with the grower in mind. “We worked at simplifying the application for the proposal and for data submission. We just wanted to let the citrus growers focus on growing the trees,” he said.
Still skeptical? Keep reading: The next section is for you.
It’s time to work together. Knowing that we are all going through the same process should be an opportunity to work together. The team here at Tree Defender wants to help willing growers work through the paperwork and get to the process of growing the best citrus in the world. That’s why we would like to plan a workshop between growers, nurserymen, and professionals who can help us all navigate our way through the CRAFT process. Right now we’re gauging interest, so if this is something you would find beneficial, call 863-439-2877 and ask for Meg. We will keep you updated with a meeting location and time.
The bottom line is this: For the first time in a long while, there seems to be a positive glimmer of light just over the horizon for all of us who love the citrus industry. In order to turn that glimmer into something brighter, we all need to work together. And we all need to start today.