Florida faces $1.2M verdict for killing trees

ORLANDO, Fla. – The owner of a commercial nursery has won a $1.2 million judgment against the Florida Department of Agriculture in the latest verdict against the state agency for destroying citrus trees in the 2000s during an attempt to stop the spread of costly tree diseases.

A jury in Orlando last week determined the state agency had destroyed more than 160,000 citrus plants in an effort to stop citrus greening, and Gary Mahon deserved the $1.2 million as compensation at fair market value. Mahon’s company, Pokey’s Lake Gem Citrus Nursery, cultivates fruit trees in Zellwood, Florida.

The Department of Agriculture had argued Mahon did not deserve compensation since he could have avoided his losses by moving his citrus plants into greenhouses. Mahon’s attorneys disputed that interpretation of the law.

In 2008, Florida lawmakers passed legislation requiring citrus plant growers to sell or destroy plants not grown in greenhouses to protect the state’s citrus industry from citrus greening. Citrus greening is among the biggest threats to the U.S. citrus industry since infected trees produce fruits that are green, misshapen and bitter. The disease can eventually kill infected trees, though it is harmless to humans.

“While the Florida Legislature and Department of Agriculture meant well by passing and enforcing this law, it had a catastrophic impact on citrus nursery growers,” said Alexander Clem, Mahon’s attorney. “Our client fought for years to get justice for the thousands-uponthousands of plants he was forced to destroy, and we are thrilled he will be compensated and can move on with his life.”

In the past two decades, Florida’s citrus industry has been threatened with greening and another disease called citrus canker.

Citrus canker can cause the leaves and fruit on citrus trees to drop prematurely and create unappealing lesions on the fruit.