Valley citrus growers ready for the holiday season

Clarissa Martinez (Valley Morning Star)
November 18, 2007 - 2:47PM

HARLINGEN — Local residents can take citrus season for granted since grapefruits and oranges are so readily available in the area, says Terri Crockett, owner of Ferris Valley Groves.

But the seasonal citrus bounty is desirable and anticipated outside the Rio Grande Valley.

“A lot of people don’t realize and are amazed at the amount of citrus that is shipped out,” Crockett said. “It’s truly a lot.”

John McClung, president of the Texas Produce Association in Mission, said at least 10 million 40-pound cartons of commercial citrus are shipped each year out of the Valley. That equals 200,000 tons of citrus, or $150 million in revenue for the area, McClung said.

About 75 percent of the citrus grown in the Valley is grapefruit; the remaining 25 percent is oranges, McClung said.

“The most successful market for Texas citrus is domestic sales,” McClung said. “But the area has been known to ship internationally.”

Valley shipments are sent all over the United States, dating back to the 1930s, said Scott Eubanks, a sales manager for the Edinburg Citrus Association.

Citrus is sold wholesale, Eubanks said, but in many cases, citrus customers are people who each order 20 pounds of grapefruit during the season.

Eubanks said visitors to the area, especially Winter Texans, taste the local citrus here and often want to order it when they head back to their northern homes. South Texas citrus is considered juicer than fruit grown in other states, he said.

But, McClung said although the Texas citrus is well-known across the country, California and Florida grow more fruit.

The Valley is home to about 28,000 acres of citrus, compared to 700,000 acres in Florida and more than 330,000 acres in California.

“We have fewer acres than Florida and California,” McClung said. “But they mostly focus on turning the fruit into juice and concentrated products.”

It’s entirely possible that Europeans could be dining on plump, sweet grapefruit and oranges that were grown right here, he said.

Crockett said Ferris Valley Groves has been shipping citrus for the past 10 years, and has watched the demand expand since the early 1960s.

“It’s a great and wonderful product compared to California and Florida citrus,” Crockett said.

Last year, about 13,000 packages were ordered and shipped in refrigerated trailers across the United States. Orders have been received from Hong Kong, Germany and Switzerland, Crockett said.

“It’s busy right now, because we’re getting close to Thanksgiving,” she said.
Crockett said shipments will be packaged through Dec. 20.

The fruit is usually shipped in bundles, but they have also been known to supply gift baskets to people who may want to share their juicy find with relatives.

“A lot of the customers have had (Valley citrus) before, so they want to send it to their family,” Crockett said. “We have a lot of multi-generation buyers. The knowledge of Valley citrus has trickled down the families over the years.”