Marketing Citrus Crops

Your editorial gives a false impression. The suspension of the order that you refer to will cost the navel orange growers between $3 million and $5 million per week and lemon growers approximately $1 million a week. It is interesting to note that during the frost and freeze of 1990/1991 the loss sustained by growers was over $350 million.

Without control of the amount of fruit made available, the vast majority of growers will not be able to earn sufficient to pay even the cost of operation, which will result in many growers going out of business, reducing the amount of fruit available, and then the price will rise very substantially higher than under the previous, existing conditions. I speak from personal knowledge.

By way of illustration, Elderwood Citrus Ranch, which has 15 acres of Valencia oranges, produced $56,000 on its crop in 1989. The cost of production was approximately $37,000, so that the net return was $20,000 on an orange grove for which the investment was approximately $250,000. The total income for 1990 and 1991 was less than $9,000. The gross income for 1992 is approximately $19,000, showing a loss of almost $20,000 for the year 1992.

Hundreds of acres of citrus fruit have been and are being planted in Mexico. Competition with thousands of tons of fruit from Brazil as well as Florida and Mexico will be more than sufficient leverage to prevent exorbitant increases in citrus prices. The former rule was fair to the grower and the public.

ALBERT H. ALLEN

Beverly Hills