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| Florida postcard 1907, State Archives of Florida |
Florida oranges have seen better days. Today, they are hard to find at local grocery stores. Closely affiliated with Florida’s brand since the mid-20th century, the state’s citrus crop has been hit with disease and development the past few decades.
Citrus is not indigenous to the Sunshine State.
According to the state of Florida, oranges were brought and planted here during the mid-1500s, when Spanish explorers settled in what became St. Augustine. The orange, however, originally came from China. The first commercial citrus grove in Florida was established by Jesse Fish of St. Augustine in 1763. Though farmers in the Carolinas and Georgia started to grow oranges in the 1830s, their hopes for the new crop were dashed by a severe freeze in 1835.
Citrus fared far better in Florida in 1835, especially at Merritt Island (Brevard County) where grower Douglas Dummett planted oranges and developed a grafting process adopted by farmers around the state. Interest in Florida as a viable place to live and do business grew with rail service in the 1890s. Rail brought visitors and expanded commercial opportunities such as packing houses for fruit and vegetable transport.
Recurring freezing weather in 1894 and in 1895 shifted the citrus growing business southward for a time. Growers gradually adapted techniques to keep ice off citrus trees throughout the state during a freeze. Business boomed; postcards with images of oranges and orange groves were available by the early 1900s. Potential growers from other states were encouraged to move to Florida to enter the citrus business. Orange groves eventually dominated landscapes in Lake Wales, Winter Haven, Clewiston, Frostproof, Vero Beach and locations across Florida.
Orange growing reached new heights with World War II and the production of frozen juice concentrate for soldiers to improve their nutrition while they were deployed to battle fronts. Florida orange juice advertisements in popular magazines such as Life Magazine and on television were ubiquitous by 1960. In 1967, orange juice was declared the state beverage by the Florida legislature (Fla.Stat.15.0.32). Florida and orange juice were entwined in the state’s branding efforts into the 1970s. (Side note: Brazil has ranked as world leader in production of orange juice concentrate for decades.)At the height of the fruit’s popularity, orange grove acreage began its decline. As the state’s population grew so did pressure for housing and other development. A ride on Florida’s turnpike past Clermont, for example, reveals subdivisions where fragrant groves once sat.
There’s more to the decline of Florida’s citrus business: the greening disease, also known as Huanglongbing or HLB to growers. China has dealt with the disease nearly 100 years. According to the Christian Science Monitor, HLB, a bacterial disease, was once deemed a bioweapon by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. USDA claims the greening disease as the “most serious citrus disease in the world.” The University of Florida reports HLB was first discovered to be in Florida as early as 1998. Other sources report the disease took off in 2004-2005 when it was spotted in Miami.
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| Orange groves in Clermont, off US 27 circa 1960 State Archives of Florida |
Because of the disease, many growers are considering other crops such as cotton, blueberries, alfalfa and sugar beets. Some, according to the Christian Science Monitor, are looking at the pongamia tree (pea family) as a possible protein alternative to soybeans and also to market as a biofuel. Some growers have abandoned their groves. There were 7,000 growers in 2004; in 2023 there were only 2,000.
Who is the state’s largest citrus grower? The answer may surprise Texans familiar with the name King Ranch and their cattle in south Texas. Florida’s largest orange grower is the King Ranch. According to the ranch, they are the top grower “with more than a dozen separate grove locations throughout the southern half of Florida and totals 40,000 tree-planted acres.” They are the largest producer of juice oranges in the U.S.
Many abandoned groves have become part of the Florida Power and Light Solar Energy Centers. Sixty three locations throughout Florida power 945,000 homes with thousands of acres of solar panels. Let’s hope they figure out a way to dispose of panels when they need to be replaced every four to five years. Some panels are composed of toxic (EPA can’t decide if all are toxic) materials, burying them in Florida soil would be another hit to the state’s agricultural industry—solar farms already mar the state’s natural beauty.
The good news is citrus still brings $6.5 billion to the state’s economy and Florida produces (as of 2023) 73 percent of the Valencia oranges in the U.S.
Many abandoned groves have become part of the Florida Power and Light Solar Energy Centers. Sixty three locations throughout Florida power 945,000 homes with thousands of acres of solar panels. Let’s hope they figure out a way to dispose of panels when they need to be replaced every four to five years. Some panels are composed of toxic (EPA can’t decide if all are toxic) materials, burying them in Florida soil would be another hit to the state’s agricultural industry—solar farms already mar the state’s natural beauty.
The good news is citrus still brings $6.5 billion to the state’s economy and Florida produces (as of 2023) 73 percent of the Valencia oranges in the U.S.
Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.
Christian Science Monitor, March 2, 2023
Treasure Coast News, Nov. 9, 2023
Florida Department of Agriculture
University of Florida Research and Education Center
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Foodnavigator. Article/2022/12/09/Densification-How-Brazil-s-orange-juice-sector-produces-more-with-less
King Ranch
Visit Florida
Tags: Citrus, Florida oranges, King Ranch, Florida agriculture
