The Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) conducted a referendum pursuant to Texas Agriculture Code, Ch. 80, and Texas Administrative Code (TAC), Title 4, Ch. 27, for the establishment of a citrus pest and disease management zone, a maximum annual assessment rate and the election of members to the board of directors (Board) of the Texas Citrus Pest and Disease Management Corporation (the Corporation). The referendum passed, establishing the Lower Rio Grande Valley Pest Management Zone, which consists of all of Cameron, Hidalgo, and Willacy counties (Zone), with a maximum assessment rate of $125 per acre, and ten members were elected to the Board.

The Corporation, a Texas nonprofit corporation, is designated to plan, carry out, and operate suppression programs to manage and control pests and diseases, including the Asian citrus psyllid and citrus greening, in citrus plants in the state under the supervision of TDA.

Texas citrus producers in the Zone are required to participate in the program. A citrus producer is a person in the Zone who grows citrus and receives or intends to receive income from the sale of citrus. The term includes an individual who as owner, landlord, tenant, or sharecropper is entitled to share in the citrus grown and available for marketing from a farm or to share in the proceeds from the sale of the citrus from the farm. The term includes a person who owns land that is primarily used to grow citrus and that is appraised based on agricultural use under Ch. 23, Tax Code, regardless of whether the person receives income from the sale of citrus, and there is an irrebuttable presumption that the person intends to receive income from the sale of citrus.

27.301. Requirements for Program Participation

All citrus producers within the Zone are required to participate in the suppression program by timely reporting acreage and payment of assessments, and complying with program rules.

All commercial and noncommercial citrus, citrus grown for ornamental, research, or any other purposes and the location of such acreage, must be reported yearly to the Corporation, no later than December 15, 2022.  Documentation of acreage can be submitted as a copy of your most recent tree insurance acreage report, the most recent county appraisal district records, or by appointment with the Corporation to review maps.

Assessment shall be $15 per net planted acre. The assessment rate will be set yearly by the Board, and shall not exceed $125 per acre. Billing statements for assessments based on reported acreage will be sent to citrus producers by May 1, 2023, and assessment payments are due by June 30, 2023. Payments will be considered past due on July 1, 2023.

IMPORTANT DATES

 Acreage Certification Deadline: December 15, 2022

Assessments Invoices Mailed: May 1, 2023

Assessments Due: June 30, 2023

Assessments Past Due: July 1, 2023

If you have any additional questions or would like to set up an appointment to review your acreage, please call 956-580-8004