citrus tree regulations in Bakersfield/Kern County (Fresno, Fortuna: transporting, insurance)

[tompope]

Good morning,

I'm working on trying to price-out a project that would involve replacing a fairly large navel orange tree that was destroyed in an accident at a property in Bakersfield. To get a big tree as a replacement it appears that it would have to be purchased pretty far away and brought-in (please let me know if anyone does know of any good local wholesale sources for large, established-size citrus trees), but I keep encountering notes and comments about the tight regulations that govern transporting citrus trees in California, to prevent spreading insect and disease problems.

From a bit of calling and Googling, though, I've been having a hard time finding a straight answer about exactly what the regulations in Bakersfield are, and how that would affect purchasing and shipping a new tree there. USDA, CDFA, Kern County, etc. all have pages of info about it on their websites, but I've been struggling to figure-out what the bottom line is. So has anyone done this who can describe the process to me? Or otherwise familiar with exactly what we could and couldn't do, and what the costs and procedures involved are?

Thanks!

[KC6ZLV]

The bottom line is that there are some areas that have been quarantined due to pests found in an area. Asian citrus psyllid is usually what causes quarantines with citrus. You can move citrus in any form into a quarantined area, but you may not be permitted to move it out of a quarantined area unless certain requirements are met. That is, agricultural inspectors from the originating and destination counties may have to inspect and sign off on it. Maybe not for a one or two trees that are going to be planted in a residential area, but that was the requirement in Fresno County when I was purchasing wholesale nursery stock that was going to be sold at retail nurseries. Different counties have slightly different requirements. The Kern County Department of Agriculture would be the place to call. If they don't have the answer they should take the time to research it since this issue is all about preventing spreading pests and diseases that could have a detrimental impact on agriculture.

As far as large, you didn't say if this is to replace a commercial tree or one in residential landscaping. If insurance is involved I'm inclined to think the two are handled differently. If it is commercial the payout may include the cost of replacing the tree and the lost production from a smaller tree for a set number of years. I have no idea what they do for residential losses to landscaping.

Large trees are available from the popular varieties. Look for boxed citrus. I think the smallest boxes start at 24 inches. There are much larger boxed citrus trees available, but they aren't grown in the boxes. They are dug out of a field and the time of the year may reduce availability due to the potential for heat stress in the summer. And let me assure you that you aren't going to plant a tree in one of those large boxes by yourself. They just weight too much.

Also, citrus grows very fast. I've planted many small citrus trees that come in those 4 inch tubes over the years. All of them managed to reach 5 to 6 feet in about three years. So, spending a lot of time on a large citrus tree may not be worth the time and effort it takes to get one.

[tompope]

Okay, cool. Thank you, KC6ZLV. That's helpful.

With respect to the quarantine areas for Asian citrus psyllid, and/or possibly other pests, that was part of my confusion. I'm quite sure a nursery guy I had talked to the other day referred to Kern County as a "clean county," which I took to mean outside of quarantine zones. But some maps I've seen online show much of Kern County—and most or all of the City of Bakersfield—as being within a quarantine area, at least for ACP. If that's the case then common sense would tell you that would have a lot less effect on bringing plants in than on taking plants out. But as I also mentioned I had gotten quite confused about the whole subject from different people I had talked to and different materials I had read, and was looking for some "plain English" advice. I appreciate it. And you're right that the next step is for me to suck it up and call the Kern County Department of Agriculture again, armed with a bit more knowledge than the last time I tried calling them.

And incidentally, as for the particulars of this scenario, it is a residential property, and there is insurance (hopefully) involved. So there won't be any coverage for lost production, but there should (hopefully) be coverage for the replacement value of the tree itself. And so the property owner in this situation may not ultimately choose to actually re-plant a new replacement plant of a size as large as the one that was destroyed (approx. 10-12 feet tall and 5"-6" trunk caliper), and just pocket the check and make-do with a smaller-size tree, which like you say could actually catch-up fairly quickly anyway. But with the personality of this particular property owner I think there's actually a decent chance that they will choose to try to actually replace the tree, so we were trying to price it out as such as closely as possible to present it as such. But yes, I'm well aware of the awkward logistics of delivering and planting a tree from such a large box. (Fortunately access to the planting spot is pretty easy, and a truck can pretty much be backed-up directly to it.)

Thx