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As Trevor Murphy pulls up to his dad’s 20-acre (8-hectare) grove in one of the fastest-growing counties in the United States, he points to the cookie-cutter, one-story homes encroaching on the orange trees from all sides.“At some point, this isn’t going to be an orange grove anymore,” Murphy, a third-generation grower, says as he gazes at the rows of trees in Lake Wales, Florida. “You look around here, and it’s all houses, and that’s going to happen here.”Polk County, which includes Lake Wales, contains more acres of citrus than any other county in Florida. And in 2023, more people moved to Polk County than any other county in the country.Hit in recent years by hurricanes and citrus greening disease, which slowly kills the trees, many growers are making the difficult decision to sell orange groves that have been in their families for generations to developers building homes to house the growing population.Others, like Murphy, are sticking it out, hoping to survive until a bug-free tree or other options arrive to repel the disease or treat the trees. Mounting concerns When Hurricane Irma blasted through the state’s orange belt in 2017, Florida’s signature crop already had been on a downward spiral for two decades because of the greening disease. Next came a major freeze and two more hurricanes in 2022, followed by two hurricanes last year. A tree that loses branches and foliage in a hurricane can take three years to recover, Murphy said.Those catastrophes contributed to a 90% decline in orange production over the past two decades. Citrus groves in Florida, which covered more than 832,00 acres (336,698 hectares) at the turn of the century, populated scarcely 275,000 acres (111,288 hectares) last year, and California has eclipsed Florida as the nation’s leading citrus producer.“Losing the citrus industry is not an option. This industry is . . . so ingrained in Florida. Citrus is synonymous with Florida,” Matt Joyner, CEO of trade association Florida Citrus Mutual, told Florida lawmakers recently.Nevertheless, Alico Inc., one of Florida’s biggest growers, announced this year that it plans to wind down its citrus operations on more than 53,000 acres (21,000 hectares), saying its production has declined by almost three-quarters in a decade.That decision hurts processors, including Tropicana, which rely on Alico’s fruit to produce orange juice and must now operate at reduced capacity. Orange juice consumption in the U.S. has been declining for the past two decades, despite a small bump during the COVID-19 pandemic.A prominent growers group, the Gulf Citrus Growers Association, closed its doors last year. Location, location, location Pressure on citrus farming is also growing from one of the state’s other biggest industries: real estate.Florida expanded by more than 467,000 people last year to 23 million people, making it the third largest state in the nation. And more homes must be built to house that ever-growing population.Some prominent, multigenerational citrus families each have been putting hundreds of acres (hectares) of groves up for sale for millions of dollars, or as much as $25,000 an acre.Murphy owns several hundred acres (hectares) of groves and says he has no plans to abandon the industry, though last year he closed a citrus grove caretaking business that managed thousands of acres for other owners.However, he also has a real estate license, which is useful given the amount of land that is changing hands. He recently sold off acres in Polk County to a home developer, and has used that money to pay off debt and develop plans to replant thousands of trees in more productive groves.“I would like to think that we’re at the bottom, and we’re starting to climb back up that hill,” Murphy says. A bug-free tree A whole ecosystem of businesses dependent on Florida citrus is at risk if the crops fail, including 33,000 full-time and part-time jobs and an economic impact of $6.8 billion in Florida alone. Besides growers, there are juice processors, grove caretakers, fertilizer sellers, packing houses, nurseries, and candy manufacturers, all hoping for a fix for citrus greening disease.Tom Davidson, whose parents founded Davidson of Dundee Citrus Candy and Jelly Factory in Lake Wales in 1966, says the drop in citrus production has impacted what flavor jellies the business is able to produce and the prices it charges to customers.“We’re really hoping that the scientists can get this figured out so we can we can get back to what we did,” Davidson says.Researchers have been working for eight years on a genetically modified tree that can kill the tiny insects responsible for citrus greening. The process involves inserting a gene into a citrus tree that produces a protein that can kill baby Asian citrus psyllids by making holes in their guts, according to Lukasz Stelinski, an entomology professor at the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences’ Citrus Research and Education Center.It could be at least three years before bug-resistant trees can be planted, leaving Florida growers looking for help from other technologies. They include planting trees inside protective screens and covering young trees with white bags to keep out the bugs, injecting trees with an antibiotic, and finding trees that have become resistant to greening through natural mutation and distributing them to other groves.“It’s kind of like being a Lions fan before the Detroit Lions started to win games,” Stelinski says. “I’m hoping that we are making that turnaround.” Follow Mike Schneider on the social platform X: @MikeSchneiderAP. Mike Schneider, Associated Press
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The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued a warning that more than a million taxpayers are still eligible to receive a share of more than $1 billion in refundsbut they need to act quickly. Heres what you need to know. Over $1 billion in refunds still to be claimed The refunds are due to people who have yet to file their 2021 tax return. The IRS says the total potential value of the refunds still to be claimed is estimated to be $1,025,336,800. As many as 1,142,000 taxpayers are eligible for part of that payout and the median refund amount is estimated to be $781 per taxpayer, the agency says. That means half of the people who are due refunds will receive more than that amount and half less. The 2021 tax season was an especially chaotic one, as the COVID-19 pandemic had hindered both IRS operations and people’s ability file their taxes on time. The increased burden of pandemic-era stimulus checks, which fell on the IRS to distribute, added to the chaos. April 15 deadline to claim refund is fast approaching The average taxpayer’s 2021 tax return was due in 2022, but as of the IRSs notification earlier this week, 1.1 million taxpayers still need to file that return. However, if they file the return later than three years after it is due, they will lose their right to claim any tax refunds due to them. “Under the law, taxpayers usually have three years to file and claim their tax refunds,” the IRS notes. “If they dont file within three years, the money becomes the property of the U.S. Treasury.” And the three-year deadline for claiming tax refunds associated with a 2021 return is about to pass. That deadline is April 15, 2025just one month and one day away from the time of this writing. The IRS also notes that these people may be missing out on more than just a refund of taxes paid or withheld during 2021. By not having filed their tax returns, they could also be missing out on other refunds, including the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which could be worth as much as $6,728 for those taxpayers with qualifying children. Refunds due across all 50 states The estimated $1.1 billion pot of refunds still due to taxpayers for the 2021 tax year includes people in every state, according to the IRS. The agency has broken down the estimated number of individuals still due the refund per state as well as the estimated median potential refund due. Full list: State-by-state breakdown of tax refunds still owed The state with the highest estimated number of individuals due a refund is Texas, with 102,200 individuals thought to be due for the refund. The median potential refund in Texas is $810. The state with the highest median potential refund due is New York, which has a potential refund due of $995 per individual. In New York, it is estimated that as many as 73,000 individuals are still due the refund. You can read the IRS’s full advice for claiming the refund due here.
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If you’ve bought bottled water from Trader Joe’s, youll want to be aware of a recent recall published by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Thats because the recall involves water in glass bottles that present a laceration risk. In total, about 61,500 bottles are included in the recall. Heres what you need to know. What is being recalled? The recall involves select lots of Gerolsteiner brand sparkling water sold at Trader Joe’s. The water was manufactured by Gerolsteiner Brunnen GmbH & Co. KG in Germany. Here are the details of the recalled product: Product name: Gerolsteiner 750ml Sparkling Water Bottles Lot numbers: 11/28/2024 L or 11/27/2024 L According to the CPSC notice, the recalled units were sold individually for about $3 per bottle and also sold in cases of 15 bottles. Around 61,500 bottles are thought to be impacted. The large glass bottles can be identified by the white, blue, and red label with the name Gerolsteiner on the front of it. The lot number of the bottle can be viewed on the lower part of the label. According to a separate notice on the Gerolsteiner website, the best-before dates on the products are December 2027. Why is the bottled water being recalled? The reason for the bottled water recall doesnt have to do with the water itself. Instead the recall has been issued because there is a defect with the glass water bottle the sparkling water comes in. That bottle can crack, leading to a laceration hazard. While there is a risk to individuals handling the recalled bottles, the CPSC says that so far, no incidents or injuries have been reported. Where and when were the recalled bottled waters sold? The recalled bottled waters were sold at Trader Joes stores in 12 states between December 2024 and January 2025. Individual bottles retailed for about $3. The 12 states where the bottled water was sold are: Alabama Arkansas Colorado Florida Georgia Kansas Louisiana New Mexico Oklahoma South Carolina Tennessee Texas What do I do if I have the recalled bottled water? If you have the recalled bottled water, you should immediately stop using the bottles, says the CPSC. Instead, you should return the bottles to their place of purchase. The CPSC notice notes that you will not need to have your proof of purchase but that the bottle of the product is required in order to receive a refund, which may be in the form of credit or cash.
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