“The call Ricke Kress and every other citrus grower in Florida dreaded came while he was driving.
“‘Its here’ was all his grove manager needed to say to force him over to the side of the road.
“The disease that sours oranges and leaves them half green, already ravaging citrus crops across the world, had reached the states storied groves. Mr. Kress, the president of Southern Gardens Citrus, in charge of two and a half million orange trees and a factory that squeezes juice for Tropicana and Floridas Natural, sat in silence for several long moments.
“‘O.K.,’ he said finally on that fall day in 2005, ‘lets make a plan.’”
