Move over peaches -- the citrus industry is now booming in Georgia

ATLANTA — Georgia is famous for its peaches, but oranges, limes and lemons are squeezing their way into the state in a big way.

A decade ago, the state had 4,700 citrus trees. Today it has more than half a million.

There is enough citrus grown in Georgia that last spring, the state legislature created the Georgia Citrus Commission.

It’s a sure sign that citrus is big enough to need research and marketing.

While Georgia grows a tiny fraction of what Florida produces, citrus growers see opportunity north of that border.

“You don’t pull this citrus,” said citrus farmer Lindy Savelle as she reached into lush leaves for a bright orange beauty and with little effort peeled the skin.

“It’s just as beautiful as it can be,” Savelle said.

She grows more than 640 citrus trees on five acres at JoNina Farm in Thomas County.

In late fall, she harvests the sweetness.

“It’s just like candy,” Savelle said.

She and her husband Perry planted their citrus trees which are mostly cold-hardy Satsuma oranges in 2016.

They are now among roughly 150 citrus growers across South Georgia.

“Citrus is that one thing that a small family farm can do. It doesn’t take a lot of acreage to equate to a lot of volume,” Savelle said.

In the beginning, the Savelles had their naysayers.

“People would say you’re crazy. You can’t do that in Georgia,” Savelle said.

The trees would never survive the cold snaps skeptics warned. But Georgia winters are warming up.

The nonprofit Climate Central said the average winter temperature in southwest Georgia has increased 6 ½ degrees since 1970.

A warming climate makes citrus farming more attractive in Georgia.

But growers said even without climate change, the citrus industry would take root in the state and spread its branches.

“The challenge that we have is climate variability,” said Georgia citrus farmer Herb Young.

He raises 1,300 citrus trees just north of Thomasville.

Despite warmer winters, punishing freezes still grip deep South Georgia as they did in December 2022 when temperatures plunged into the teens for several days.

He dismissed climate change as sparking the state’s citrus surge.

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“I don’t think that’s really the factor. I think it’s like all kinds of agriculture, we’re stubborn,” X Young said.

He said there is a stubborn determination to try something new no matter the risks.

In that arctic blast last December followed by a freeze in March, the Savelles lost ¾ of their citrus.

“But we still have trees, and that I tell people, count your blessings, you still have a tree,” Savelle said.

Those trees will live on and bear fruit in the next season.

“That freeze we had in December really kind of proved that we can grow it here,” Savelle said. “Any type of farming year to year, you’re gonna have ups and downs. It’s never gonna be perfect from year to year.”

Crop science also is feeding Georgia’s citrus boom. Researchers are studying which trees are hardiest to handle freezes.

The trees on the Savelles’ farm for example are hybrids – fruit limbs grafted onto the roots of varieties that can best weather the cold.

“These trees are usually very prepared for cold weather events, and they will take quite a bit more cold temperatures than anything central Florida has ever seen,” said Bill Barber, a citrus consultant from Florida.

Savelle sees a Georgia horizon that is sunny for citrus.

“You know we just kind of proved ourselves. You don’t have to say a thing, just watch what we’re doing,” Savelle said.

As President of the Georgia Citrus Association, Savelle said the state is poised to produce 20 to 30 million pounds of fruit in 2024.

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