Florida Citrus Hall Of Fame Selects Three More For 2024
December 21, 2023 The Florida Citrus Hall of Fame Selection Committee has announced Dr. Robert M. “Bob” Behr, George H. Streetman, and Leland K. Young as the Class of 2024 inductees.
The three industry leaders will be inducted into the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame — along with the Class of 2023 — on March 1, 2024 at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, at the George W. Jenkins Fieldhouse.
The event is co-sponsored by Florida Citrus Mutual and the Florida Department of Citrus, with the Florida Citrus Processors Association hosting the OJ Meet & Greet afterwards.
Meet the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame Class of 2024
Bob Behr’s professional journey in the citrus industry began in 1987 with the Florida Department of Citrus where he served as the Economics/Market Research Director. He joined Citrus World (now Florida’s Natural) in 1994, eventually graduating to Vice-President, Planning & Product Services, followed by Chief Operating Officer, and ultimately to CEO in 2015 until he retired in December 2022. Behr has been instrumental in the fight against citrus greening, championing the use of Citrus Under Protective Screen (CUPS) systems, and personally maintaining considerable plantings within CUPS. His efforts earned him the Citrus Achievement Award in 2019 for the tree planting initiative program (PIP) at Florida’s Natural, resulting in the planting of 1.4 million trees.
Congratulations to Dr. Robert Behr of Florida’s Natural on being selected to the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame. In 2019, he was named 2019 Citrus Achievement Award winner.
Photo by Frank Giles
Behr steered the Florida’s Natural brand through a period of significant difficulty, effectively responding to the challenges of citrus greening and its impact on growers and fruit supply where his transformative leadership fostered remarkable growth and stability. This included moves to a Florida’s Natural Lemonade brand, successfully changing the Florida’s Natural Orange Juice blend to incorporate imported orange juice in 2022, and achieving strong member returns, despite COVID, greening, and Hurricane Ian.
George Streetman emerged from a family farming in the Indian River area since 1935 to build a successful packing, shipping, and grapefruit export business. During his career, he served as president and General Manager of Hogan & Sons, where he was instrumental in the development of size regulations that helped maintain a profitable and orderly market during periods of oversupply. One of the leaders in initiating and implementing the Partners in Quality (PIQ) inspection for packinghouses, he helped save thousands of dollars in fees for packinghouses by instituting the self-inspection program for fruit quality, earning him the “Hammer Award” presented by Vice-President, Al Gore.
George Streetman
He also received the John T. Lesley Award for Excellence from the Florida Citrus Packers, which is the organization’s highest recognition reserved for individuals making sustained and outstanding contributions to Florida’s fresh fruit industry.
He served on the Florida Citrus Commission from 2005-2011, was on the International Marketing Committee from 2005-2008, serving as Vice Chair 2008-2010, and as Chair from 2010-2011. In 2015, he was awarded the “Legend of the River” award, the highest recognition from the Indian River Citrus League. In addition, he served on the inaugural Board of Directors for New Varieties Development & Management Corp., chaired the Citrus Administrative Committee overseeing a federal marketing order for fresh Florida citrus and served as President of Florida Citrus Packers from 2003-2005.
Leland K. Young worked for Kraft Foods and Evans Packing before starting his own company, Peace Valley Enterprises, which became a large, thriving family citrus business caretaking his own groves and those of many others in South Polk County. He was the epitome of a pioneer and an innovator, buying a plastics injection mold machine in the early ’80s, hiring an engineer, and manufacturing the first low volume emitters in Florida via his company, Nu Jet, significantly undercutting the foreign competition. He invented the Stabilizer Buckle Stake, designed to hold tubing in place for proper placement of jets. Nu-Jet and the Stabilizer Buckle Stake were wildly successful and widely used within the industry, eventually becoming Maxi-Jet, Inc. and the industry norm. This tremendous improvement in water use efficiency became very important in the never-ending battle to retain water use rights during permitting negotiations with the water management districts.
Leland Young
Always collaborative, Leland often worked with chemical companies on field trials, most significantly participating in the trials for the eradication of the Diaprepes Root Weevil. Additionally, Leland is credited, along with Nick Albritton, for influencing the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services during the Canker crisis for demanding a tarp for every semi-tractor and not a tarp for every trailer, saving the industry millions of dollars.
For more information on all inductees and tickets for the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame induction ceremony in March 2024, visit FloridaCitrusHallofFame.com.
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