POLK COUNTY, Fla. — Roy Petteway is a sixth-generation citrus grower.
"We have 4-500 acres of citrus crops in the three-county area," said Roy Petteway, owner of Petteway Groves Service.
It's no secret Florida citrus is a vital contributor to the economy in the sunshine state.
"Close to $7 billion of an economic input just from our industry, and that equates to about 34,000 jobs," said Petteway.
However, it has been a challenging harvest season for orange farmers nationwide.
"This is going to be the lowest amount of citrus harvested in Florida since the great depression," said Petteway.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently reported that Florida growers are on pace to fill 15.65 million boxes of oranges this season. This is the lowest total in nearly 100 years. Recent hurricanes are a significant factor.
"After the hurricane with Ian, we knew we were looking at a rough year. Post-hurricane, when we were able to get out in the groves, 24-48 hours after, we estimated a 50% fruit loss. Once we began harvesting around the holiday Christmas time, we were at the 90% loss for many of our groves," Petteway said.
In addition to the more significant fruit drop caused by Ian, the industry has battled against deadly citrus greening disease for decades.
"We had 780 trees, and when greening started to come along, it started killing my grove out slowly. Then the hurricane came along and destroyed 70% more of my grove," said Mitchell McLellan, owner of McLellan Farm.
Citrus grower Mitchell McLellan has now set his sights on growing something else.
"I'm going to plant 700 avocado trees in the place of the orange grove that I had. I'm going to plant them, nurture them, and hopefully produce avocados for the public to enjoy," McLellan said.
The commercial production of avocados has never been done in Central Florida before. But, after researching and working with the University of Florida, McLellan is betting big on his new crop.
"Farming, agriculture is a gamble, period. It's an everyday gamble. Suppose you look at the agriculture business. It's a total gamble every time you plant," said McLellan.
Meanwhile, citrus growers are turning their focus to the next season.
"We're optimistic about the future. We're a little crazy for it, I think, after all these hurricanes and such. But, this is in your body, it's in your soul, it's in your blood," Petteway said.
