Sustainability

As a family owned co-op of growers, many of the groves we harvest today were planted years ago by our parents and grandparents. We realize that our livelihood today was only made possible by their efforts and sacrifices as farmers, and that we too have a duty to protect and nurture the land for our children. Unlike annual crops such as corn, strawberries, and tomatoes, citrus trees take three to five years bear fruit and much longer to actually produce a crop that will be profitable. Success in the citrus business requires a long-term sustainability commitment, a commitment not just to the trees, our employees, the ground water that sustains us, and the community in which we live and work.

Some of our sustainability initiatives:

Integrated Pest Management, Following the principles of IPM, we reduce pest damage to our trees and crops while limiting our impact on the environment.
Water Conservation, To conserve water we use low volume spray jets, which apply water directly to a tree’s root zone. Low volume spray jets are also energy efficient.
Energy Conservation, In our packinghouse, we installed high efficiency refrigeration units for our cooler, added motion sensor lighting for our offices, and converted our boiler from diesel to clean burning natural gas.
Cultivation Technology, We conserve resources and cut down on nutrient runoff by using high tech spreaders that detect and apply fertilizer only to the root zone of a tree.