Hundreds Decry USDA Lemon Import Plan

Armed with protest signs scripted with slogans such as “No Fruit Flies and Disease Please,” hundreds of citrus growers urged federal officials Monday to postpone the importation of Argentine lemons until it is proved they do not carry crop-destroying diseases.

About 700 farmers, laborers, families and industry supporters packed into the Fred Kavli Theatre in Thousand Oaks to voice their concerns to representatives from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is set to approve the importation.

“There’s a lot at stake here,” said Derek Knobel, manager of the Rancho Sierra Vista groves in Camarillo, in an exasperated tone. “We’re all a little scared, and this is it. . . . This is the only time we’re going to have to fight.”

The hearing, during which the USDA and the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service introduced their findings, was the first opportunity state growers had to voice their concerns.

Growers fear that Argentina’s lemon crop, which has in the past shown evidence of harboring such devastating pests as the Medfly and black spot, may infect local groves and destroy the county’s rich citrus industry.

At issue is the scientific analysis conducted by the inspection service; growers contend that it is based on “bad science” and that the service failed to fully examine Argentina’s efforts to eradicate pests and their systems of monitoring and suppression.

“What we’re asking is, where’s the science?” said Pierre Tada, president of Limoneira Co. of Santa Paula. “It’s not there, and that lack of science is a serious issue when you’re talking about an industry as important to Ventura County as citrus.”

He later told the USDA committee overseeing the plan, “We fear that this proposal will become the unintended vehicle for an exotic bug and disease shuttle from South America. This case could be a watershed that could potentially threaten every other commodity grown in the United States and threaten our position as a global leader in agriculture.”

With more than 20,000 acres of lemons under cultivation, the crop is the county’s most profitable agricultural commodity, netting more than $217 million in 1997.

County lemons are so abundant that last year they accounted for 60% of all those sold in the state.

Although some growers are concerned with what the addition of Argentina will mean to the already tight lemon market, they are primarily concerned with pests.

On several occasions over the past decade, Argentine citrus has been found to harbor such pests as Medfly, black spot, sweet orange scab and citrus canker.

If any of those pests got a foothold in California, growers said, the crop could be devastated.

“In no way, shape or form are we worried about the competition--we’ve got the best product in the world, and we’ll go at it with anybody--but when it comes to these pests, well that’s a completely different matter,” said county citrus grower Bob Pinkerton, who is also a member of the Saticoy Lemon Board. “What we’re talking about here is perhaps the destruction of the state’s citrus industry.”

A number of local government representatives were also on hand to voice their objections to the inspection service’s report and any USDA plan to begin importing lemons based on those findings.

“I have difficulty believing your scientific approach when you use words like ‘unlikely,’ ‘new methods,’ ‘little possibility’ and ‘quite low,’ ” said Supervisor Frank Schillo to a round of loud applause.

Last week, the Santa Paula City Council approved a resolution asking the USDA to scrap the inspection service report and begin again. The county Board of Supervisors will vote today on a similar resolution.

Despite the criticism and skepticism voiced by growers, representatives from the Argentine government who spoke at the hearing said they could “guarantee” that their crops are safe and have met all USDA requirements.

Some county growers think the USDA has fast-tracked Argentina’s export application, even going so far as to sidestep traditional safety standards.

“Sometimes I think the mind-set of the government is to import all our food from somewhere else, forget the farmers and focus on high technology,” said Santa Paula citrus grower Steve Smith. “I’m here because I’m not about to go out and start making computer chips.”

The public hearing represented a well-orchestrated mobilization by growers’ organizations, as farmers and their supporters packed the hearing room, cheering speakers who represented their viewpoint and waving placards that read “No Fruit Flies and Disease Please,” and “First The Freeze and Now Disease.”

There was an onslaught of comments against the proposal by scientists, business owners and federal, state and local officials.

But the most dramatic testimony came from growers themselves, those who contend that their livelihood is threatened by a proposal they believe is driven by a political desire to improve trade relations with South America.

No timetable has been set to begin importing lemons from Argentina, and the USDA said it would remain flexible and weigh the concerns of domestic producers before making any decision.

Outside the hearing room, growers said they intend to continue to lobby federal officials to force the USDA to withdraw the plan. And they said they will take their fight to court if necessary to ensure that the plan is stopped dead in its tracks.

“Many growers feel that our government is working against us,” said Santa Paula citrus grower Richard Pidduck, who is also president of the Ventura County Farm Bureau.

“We have a clear sense that politics are driving this issue,” he added. “We support free trade all the way. But we don’t want to be sold down the river on that basis.”

Times staff writer Fred Alvarez contributed to this story.