Diversity Leads To Longevity
April 1, 2006 If you’re going to spend 75 to 100 hours per week working, you better love what you do for a living. Such is the case for James “Hoss” Morgan, who manages the Morgan Family Farm in Lakeland and serves as fresh-fruit buyer and harvesting manager for William G. Roe & Sons. Long days and hard work are par for the course for Morgan, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I taught them whatever they do for a living, make sure to enjoy it, because life is short,” says Morgan, a 1978 graduate of Florida Southern College with a degree in horticulture.
Registered as a Century Pioneer Family Farm with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the Morgan Family Farm was founded in 1868, back when Florida was still a territory. Although his full-time position with William G. Roe & Sons keeps him busy, Morgan is still able to oversee all aspects of his family business.
Secrets To Success
Today, the operation includes 13.5 acres of citrus for processing, 75 acres of cattle, 10 acres of grapes, 5 acres of blackberries, and a few small row crops. The only one of these crops that has been added to the farm within the last 20 years is grapes. Several years ago, the farm was overproducing grapes for the wholesale market, so as a solution, Morgan came up with the idea of marketing the late-season crop to the home-winery-enthusiast niche. The idea was a great success. After running an ad in Sarasota and St. Petersburg newspapers, the farm received a deluge of phone calls from doctors, lawyers, and other home winemakers who come to the farm to pick and fill up their trunks with 600-700 pounds of multiple varieties of grapes. Some also purchase the Morgans’ blackberries for winemaking; the rest of the crop goes to local grocers and markets.
“Being diversified is what keeps a small family operation like this going,” says Morgan. “If you have one crop failure, you have others to fall back on. That’s the key to keeping a good cash flow, and it’s something that’s taken me years to learn.”
In addition to having a diversified crop, Morgan attributes the success and longevity of the farm to close family values and religion.
“Talking out our problems, everybody pitching in and working together, and the generations working with the children and instilling the same values in them have kept us going,” says Morgan. “I believe the families that are the most successful are the ones that have the most involvement with the children.”
We’ve Come A Long Way, Baby
While family values have been a fixture at the farm throughout its history, other things have changed substantially over the years.
“I’ll be 52 in May, so I’m not that old, but I remember seeing Granddaddy working the field with a mule,” recalls Morgan. “I remember our first tractors we had growing up, and we thought they were great. Now, the John Deeres run circles around the old Cases we had.
“With the advent of more modern tractors and irrigation equipment, as well as broad-spectrum, longer-lasting chemicals, the frequency of application is reduced dramatically. You do pay for the privilege of having all that, but it takes less manpower to manage more acreage, and you can do it very effectively.”
Other important changes Morgan has seen in the citrus industry are mid-size growers being squeezed out of business because they don’t have enough acreage to justify expenses, and increasing global competition.
“Smaller operators are getting forced out,” says Morgan. “It’s very difficult for them to stay in business with all the governmental compliance issues. And, with the price of real estate today, it’s very difficult to turn down $40,000 an acre when juice prices are low.”
Morgan points out, however, that since the hurricanes hit, the crop estimates have been down, and juice prices have gone up.
“So, now, processed orange growers are making a good return on investment in the property and they can continue to keep it in ag,” explains Morgan. “But if an oversupply situation happens again, there is no reason for them to stay in it.”
Not For Sale
When asked what the biggest problem currently facing his farm is, Morgan says it would be easier to say it’s canker or greening.
“But, truthfully, our single largest challenge is the city of Lakeland. They started three years ago with plans to split our farm in half, through eminent domain, forcing a road through our property.”
Although Morgan says two alternative routes are available, the easiest option for the city is to go straight through the farm. He feels as if his family is being penalized for being good stewards of the land.
“Basically, they are forcing us out. We’ll lose all security, and it will make the farm pretty much untenable,” Morgan says. “The road will come 110 feet from the east side of my parents’ bedroom window, going right through the cattle pens. It will be a two-lane road, and five years later it will be a four-lane highway cutting the farm directly in half. It will devastate it.
“They say this will dramatically increase the value of our property, but we don’t want to sell, we just want to be left alone. We’ve been offered a roaring fortune for the property already, but it’s not for sale.
“I can live with disease and pestilence. That’s Mother Nature. But this is manmade, and there are alternatives, and they just simply won’t take them.”
Optimistic Outlook
While Morgan continues his fight to save the family farm, he remains positive about the future of the citrus industry.
“Survivors will make money,” predicts Morgan. “The growers that hang in there, either processing or fresh, and keep their groves up in good shape will continue to make a return on investment and have a bright future.
“If they keep one knee on the pew and one in the field, they’ll be OK.”
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