Housing Crisis at Root of Fla. Citrus Blight?

Homeowners in Florida have one more thing to worry about with dropping prices: A disease is spreading and killing orange trees in abandoned lots that developers fled after the housing market crashed.

While it's doubtful that not having an orange tree in the backyard will prevent anyone from buying homes that are already cheap, agricultural officials are worried that the problem will continue to grow, due in part to "grove abandonment." A recent Wall Street Journal story reports that citrus greening, or yellow dragon disease, has spread because absentee landowners have left orange groves for dead, after not building homes on them as planned.

"That's not a good situation for any type of agricultural production, to have a neighbor not properly maintaining his area," farmer Marty McKenna told the Journal. "It's only a matter of time until it's in every grove in the state."