Published 2019-04-19
Abstract
Putnam County was originally one of the top citrus producing counties in the late 1800s. After freezing temperatures, an increasing demand for ferns and the purchase of agricultural land in central and south Florida, dooryard citrus is primarily what remains today. The world of citrus has changed in northeast Florida, but that has not stopped small groves and homeowners from growing this iconic fruit. Citrus greening is the most serious threat to the remaining citrus acreage in the county. Commercial citrus production in Putnam County is limited to the extreme southern part of the county, concentrated in the Crescent City area. The number of boxes produces is lumped together with Citrus, Palm Beach and Pinellas Counties. These four counties, combined, represent 138,000 of the 124,030,000 boxes of citrus produced statewide in 2013–14.