Four Members Added to Florida Citrus Hall of Fame

Becker is the president/owner of Peace River Citrus Products Inc. and was a member of the Florida Citrus Commission (FCC) under both parties. He served as chairman of the FCC for five terms (1986-1991). He is a past president of both the Florida Citrus Processors’ Association and the National Juice Products Association, and is a former member of the Florida Citrus Production Managers Association. He is known as a tenacious advocate for both the grower and the processor, always fighting to do what was best for the industry.

Beeland’s service to the Florida citrus industry spanned more than 70 years, serving on numerous boards throughout a distinguished career that helped advance the industry forward as both a packer, processor, and grower. He started his career in 1928 with Kissimmee Citrus Growers Association (CGA) before moving to Clearwater Growers Association as general manager, where he remained for 28 years (with the exception of three years in the Air Force during World War II). He went on to become the executive vice president and general manager of Winter Haven CGA, a position he held for 22 years. During his career, he served on the boards of Citrus World, Seald-Sweet, Highlands-Exchange Service Cooperative, Florida Citrus Packers, and was a founding member of Citrus Self-Insurers Fund, which he also chaired for 20 years. He was president of the Florida Citrus Packers and was awarded the John T. Lesley Award of Excellence in 1991 for his leadership and many contributions to the industry.

Bullock, a research entomologist at the IFAS research center in Ft. Pierce for more than 35 years, was known as the “growers’ teacher” for his hands-on knowledge of citrus production and development of integrated pest management practices. He pioneered aerial spraying with fixed-winged aircraft for a number of pesticides, as well as the application techniques for Temik (aldicarb, Bayer CropScience) and Admire (imidacloprid, Bayer CropScience), while at the same time teaching the industry how to balance the use of those chemicals with natural resources to help protect the environment. Inducted as an honorary member of the Florida State Horticultural Society in 2008, Dr. Bullock was always available to help the grower with pest management concerns.

Savage is known as Florida’s first grower cooperator. In 1892, he began working with two USDA scientists, Hall of Fame member Walter T. Swingle and Hubert John Webber, to establish the first citrus research facility in the world. Savage constructed laboratories in two rooms at his home and participated in all of the fieldwork and citrus research with the scientists, developing citrus varieties that are still in use today (Orlando, Minneola tangelo, and the Swingle rootstock). When the 1894-1895 freeze destroyed the citrus industry, the scientists were called back to Washington, and Savage voluntarily continued their work through regular correspondence with the scientists. Because of his commitment to continuing the research programs established by Swingle and Webber, those two laboratory rooms eventually became a plant evaluation facility, the A.H. Whitmore Foundation Farm, where extensive breeding work is still done today.
For more information on these newly inducted members and others of the Citrus Hall of Fame, visit FloridaCitrusHallofFame.com.