EXETER, Calif. — Thousands of citrus trees stretch across the land just across the land outside of Exeter, a farming town in California’s Central Valley.
The oranges, lemons, and pomelo trees growing at the Lindcove Research and Extension Center aren’t destined for store shelves. The fruit is actually grown to help answer farmers’ questions.
Citrus growers from across the Golden State come here looking for solutions to some of the industry’s biggest challenges, from irrigation and drought to plant diseases and invasive pests. Before farmers invest in a new variety of citrus, researchers at Lindcove work to help them understand the risks — and returns — of doing so.
Lindcove is home to about 500 varieties of citrus and works as California’s main citrus research center. It also houses the “mother trees” used to grow clean citrus stock across the state.
Ashraf El-Kereamy, director of the research center, says these trees are the protected, disease-free source of all of California’s citrus varieties and are kept in high-security greenhouses so they can safely supply clean materials to growers.
This makes it a critical resource for this industry that produces the majority of fresh citrus nationwide. In 2024, for example, California produced over 80% of the nation’s citrus.
“Without doing research on pest management, without optimizing the cultural practices, you cannot get this nice-looking fruit,” said El-Kereamy.
Without this research, El-Kereamy said growers would have fewer tools to succeed in the industry and would be more susceptible to unprotected orchards.
For decades, much of the center’s research relied on funding authorized through the federal farm bill, the large piece of legislation that shapes agriculture policy in the U.S. every five years.
But since 2018, Congress hasn’t passed a new farm bill, instead relying on a series of temporary extensions as lawmakers negotiate.
Last year, Congress approved billions of dollars in funding for select agriculture programs through H.R. 1, better known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. This provided a funding boost for research centers like Lindcove.
While this extra funding helped address some needs, it raised concern among experts about the future of the farm bill and how agricultural programs may be funded going forward.
The work at Lindcove covers more than just growing citrus. Researchers test new rootstocks and help growers respond to emerging diseases before they harm their orchards. One of the biggest threats is huanglongbing, or HLB, a bacterial infection of citrus plants widely considered to be one of the most destructive.
The disease destroyed the Florida citrus industry, reducing the Sunshine State’s citrus production by 75% since 2005, according to the USDA.
“So far we don’t have [HLB] in any commercial orchard in California, which is really great,” El-Kereamy said.
The center also evaluates new citrus varieties before growers invest money in planting them.
“We are testing how they will grow, how the fruit quality will be, the taste, the sugar, all of these things,” El-Kereamy said.
All of this research requires special labs and equipment and can take years. Some equipment at Lindcove is already starting to show its age. A fruit sorting and analysis system that measures the number of seeds inside each citrus fruit was donated in 2015.
El-Kereamy says the machine has become outdated and the center needs funding to replace or update it.
Federal funding has supported this work for decades. But, as Congress continues to delay a new bill, long-term security is becoming harder to count on.
Anja Raudabaugh, CEO of Western United Dairies and a former congressional staffer who helped write portions of the 2018 Farm Bill, said the legislation provides folks in the agriculture business with certainty and security. She believes the funding from H.R. 1 was needed, but should not be seen as a replacement for the bill.
“I don't think it's a substitute at all,” Raudabaugh said. “It’s a band-aid at best.”
Others in agriculture worry the additional funding from H.R. 1 could reduce the urgency to finish a new farm bill.
“Just because something is hard does not mean it's obsolete,” said Ian LeMay, president of the California Table Grape Commission.
California Senator Adam Schiff, the first Californian to serve on the senate’s Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry in 30 years, said the path to passing a new farm bill is even more complicated.
Programs previously covered by the farm bill, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, were moved under H.R. 1, which weakened the alliance that initially helped to move this legislation through Congress.
Back at Lindcove, the work carries on. Researchers are still working through solutions for growers. But El-Kereamy has hopes to do even more.
The Lindcove Center wants to expand its facilities to host more workshops and educate more students across the Central Valley. Five years ago, the expansion project was estimated to cost $5 million. Today, El-Kereamy says, the estimated cost has increased to $15 million.
“The more you wait, the more the cost goes up,” El-Kereamy said. “So hopefully we can get money soon.”
This story was edited with help from The California Newsroom.
