Transcript for the Piece Audio version of Bitter Fruit in Citrus Country

[Ambient sound: Mixon Farms

Mixon Farms in Bradenton, Florida -- about an hour south of Tampa -- has been a family farm for four generations. Owner and family patriarch Bill Mixon says his groves have endured hurricanes, freezes and a decade long battle against citrus canker disease.
But Mixon says, competition from Brazil poses the greatest threat he's seen in his seven decades of growing citrus.

(MIXON: We can't compete with Brazil because their labor is so cheap there and our labor is so much higher and we just absolutely can't compete. Especially when they dump their product here in the United States at below world prices in order to clear out their inventory.)

In Brazil, growers can produce a box of oranges for about one quarter of what it costs in the United States, mainly because of lower labor costs. Major producers, such as Tropicana and Minute Maid mix Florida juice with Brazilian concentrate. When Florida growers have a bad season, the producers add more imported product to the mix.

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That's fine with Andy Lavigne -- up to a point. Lavigne is the CEO of Florida Citrus Mutual, the state's growers cooperative.

(LAVIGNE: You have essentially two states in the world that produce orange juice: Florida and Brazil. When one is impacted negatively by Mother Nature or by market situations, you have to rely on the other. And that's what we consider competition. But when you get into a situation where that other entity is pushing to put adverse economic pressure on a domestic industry like the Florida citrus industry, then that is not true competition and is pushing toward a monopoly. And that's not beneficial to this industry or to the consumer.)

Lavigne says Brazilian producers have been selling concentrate to US processors at prices below fair market value. Florida growers say this so-called "dumping" has dealt them a severe blow.
Florida Citrus Mutual has filed a complaint asking the US International Trade Commission to investigate the dumping charges and to impose an additional, retaliatory, tariff against the Brazilian companies.
The Brazilian government says they already pay a high tariff on their imports and they dispute the dumping charges. Rafael Vidal is Deputy Consul at the Brazilian Consulate in Miami.

(VIDAL: The fact that we can put orange juice concentrate in Florida or anywhere in the world is just a consequence of good productivity methods and of an open, free trade, world.)

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In the meantime, independent growers like Bill Mixon are looking for other ways to stay in business.
Mixon says the only reason his operation has survived is that the family turned its packing and processing facility into a tourist attraction.
Now Mixon Farms relies less on selling fruit to large processors than on tourists who want to experience some "southern hospitality" on the family's farm, tour the groves and send gift boxes home.
(MIXON: The growers in Florida are a tough bunch of people and we'll find a way to compete. We tried to keep up with the times and as things got worse in one area, we tried to develop other areas so that we could have some revenue.)
But many other independent growers are sinking under the combined weight of hurricane damage, canker disease and competition from Brazil.
Real estate developers with fat checkbooks can often pay more money for an acre of citrus land than a grower could reap in 20 years of toiling in the groves.
Now many family farmers say that without relief from federal trade regulators, Florida's famous citrus industry could soon become another colorful chapter of the state’s history.
The U-S International Trade Commission and the U-S Department of Commerce are currently investigating claims against the Brazilian importers.
Both agencies are expected to release their findings this summer.

In Tampa, Florida, I'm Carson Cooper.
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