Citrus Renewal in the Northern Region of Florida: The Experience of Thorsen Groves Packinghouse

Abstract

In Milo, Florida there is a big empty spot under some curiously lopsided live oak trees.' The Andrew & Boyce packinghouse once stood there, bustling with activity every winter as semi-trucks hauled citrus to the plant to be packed for shipment to market. Andrew & Boyce was the only packinghouse within a fifty-mile radius in an area the USDA calls the Northern Region of Florida's citrus production areas. The plant burned in 1985. Its owners rebuilt it only to have a horrific freeze the next winter wipe out virtually all the citrus within its supply region. The company declared bankruptcy and folded. All the new equipment was sold. Growers no longer were able to send fruit to a local packinghouse.