One of nature's most delicious offerings, the Florida orange is the result of a perfect synergy of natural elements. While oranges can be grown in other places, their taste and juice never quite match what we grow right here.
But even in this ideal location, Florida orange growers have to contend with uncooperative forces of nature. Freezes, droughts, hurricanes, floods, and the diseases spread by these conditions have all changed the face of today's citrus industry.
In Florida, as in any agricultural center, talk about the weather is anything but casual. Bring up the topic with any Florida grower and most likely you´ll be treated to a hurricane or freeze story. In fact, the industry´s reaction in the early days to freezes changed the history and location of the state´s commercial citrus production. Freezes pushed growers farther and farther south when the state´s northern regions were hammered by the cold.
In more recent years, it has been hurricanes that have done the most damage to citrus crops. It's no wonder that Florida farmers view these extreme weather conditions as a real threat to their livelihood.
In late summer 2004, the State of Florida was blindsided by a triple punch as hurricanes Charley, Frances and Jeanne barreled across the center of the state, the heart of citrus country, leaving a wake of destruction and loss. Charley hit first on the west coast, near Ft. Meyers. It traveled north and east, crossing over Polk County and then heading out to sea near Daytona.
Frances and Jeanne hit land within one mile of each other, south of Fort Pierce on the east coast. Their paths were virtually identical – they crossed the state and headed north into Georgia.
And then, adding insult to injury, in 2005 Hurricane Wilma swept through the Indian River area, the world's largest grapefruit-growing region.
Although these types of storms have their own season in the Sunshine State, before this foursome came calling there hadn't been a significant hurricane in the region since Donna hit in 1960. All three of the 2004 hurricanes centered on Polk County, blasting acres and acres of groves and causing nearly 10 billion dollars worth of damage. The unpredictable and erratic behaviors of these types of storms leave growers particularly vulnerable. Aside from planting windbreaks at the edges of groves, there's no real way to safeguard the crops.
