Citrus greening disease, named so for producing green, disfigured fruit, is destroying millions of acres of citrus plants world wide.  Scientifically known as Hunaglongbing (HLB), or in Asia as yellow dragon disease; the disease is spread from tree to tree by a small gnat size insect known as an Asian citrus psyllid.  Citrus greening is a bacterial plant disease with no known cure except for prevention.  Stopping the movement of plants is the only hope for saving America’s citrus.

The disease originated in China in the late 1800’s.  It was discovered in Florida in 2005.  In just four short years, greening has brought the acreage of oranges alone to a 22 year low.  As a result, the entire state of Florida is under agricultural quarantine.  Infected trees are immediately destroyed to prevent the spread to healthy ones and movement of citrus is highly regulated.

What will this do to the price of citrus?  An article from USA Today dated September 26, 2008 states, “A botanical disease that has hit Florida and now threatens California is raising fears that the price of citrus fruits and juices will soar in the coming years.”  As of 2006 Florida produces 71% of the U.S. citrus; and California approximately 27%.  Florida growers are spending 40% of their marketing budget on research to help combat the greening disease.

Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice (FCOJ) has recently bounded off of 1997 and 2000 lows.  Spread of the greening bacteria has now been discovered in Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina, along with Florida and Southern California.  Will prices go up?  Awareness of these events combined with a step by step systematic approach to successfully trading in today's commodity futures markets can be found in our book, ChartSmith—Forging Your Financial Future.  This informative “wealthbook” will give you the tools and guidance to safely invest in the marketplace and profit from these global events.