LaBelle orange grower forced to leave fruit rotting on the ground

LABELLE, Fla. (WINK)—Florida's citrus industry is feeling the pinch from every angle, with growers saying the biggest problem now isn't just growing the fruit but getting it moving.

George Winslow, owner of G Road Groves, knows his Valencia oranges well. "If you're gonna squeeze an orange and enjoy the juice, you can do no better than a Valencia," Winslow said.

Usually, these oranges hang heavy on the trees, waiting their turn to be picked and shipped. But right now, that's not happening.

"It's going to be found on the ground," Winslow said. Not on the truck, not in the market—just lying on the ground, rotting.

"We are greatly restrained by our ability to deliver fruit," Winslow said. "We would like to be delivering 4,000 to 5,000 boxes a day, which relates to about eight or 10 semi-loads of fruit."

Instead, it's down to one truck a day. "So that's like 500 boxes on a truck," Winslow said.

It becomes a serious problem when only one truck comes a day because it leaves fresh, healthy fruit on the ground, resulting in lost product and profit for growers. "We're restrained by the processor as to how much they will allow us to deliver on any given day," Winslow said.

"When I started in this business, there were more than 20 processors in the state," Winslow said. Only a handful remain, including Cutrale and Tropicana.

Winslow says even some labels now rely on imported fruit from Brazil and Mexico rather than Florida-grown fruit. "All of these groves are losing profit and product," Winslow said.

"All of the groves are trying to produce. I would say certainly more than 90% of the groves have said their last goodbye," Winslow said. "On the license plate, the orange is still there. I'd like to think we can keep it there."

He says the fix is simple to say but hard to do. More processors, more capacity, more trucks moving fruit.

"We're battered, and we're bruised, and we've been knocked to the floor. I want to get up off the floor, and I believe that we can," Winslow said.