[boy3365]

Here's something I heard on the radio this afternoon.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/busi...ofa-story.html

For those wondering why Florida-based grocers Publix and Winn-Dixie aren't big on having fresh squeezed "Fresh from Florida" orange juice stations, it may be because the companies whose sole job is producing orange juice can't even get enough Florida oranges.

[craigiri]

We can't even find fresh OJ in Sarasota - even the Farm Market grove vendors sell it thawed from frozen (fresh).
I get better OJ at Trader Joes....much better.

[Rabflmom]

Originally Posted by Arcenal352

Granted, I don't own FIELDS of citrus plants, but rather just a few trees. The fields are where these problems are occurring en masse.

But some of the beach towns in Brevard do have rat problems . I also just heard on the morning news about the woman who got bit by a mama bear on her ankle yesterday. The reporter went through the usual ways to keep bears out of garbage and added to pick up oranges that drop off trees because the sweet oranges attract the bears in center of state, too.

BTW, most oranges are sold to the big corps to make oj. Most of our oranges in the grocery stores come from California, Mexico, and Brazil like most of the other fruit and vegetables. That means we end up paying more than Northern states because of the shipping/transport cost to get to our peninsula. Another reason it may be higher here.....our orange groves are being sold for housing subdivisions. We had some major freezes since I have lived here that killed whole groves and the farmers lost everything and could not replant. And.... we still have a disease that is killing orange trees. New comers may not remember but there was a time when the Florida government even had all trees cut down -even in our private yards to try to stop a disease from spreading.

[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by Rabflmom

But some of the beach towns in Brevard do have rat problems . I also just heard on the morning news about the woman who got bit by a mama bear on her ankle yesterday. The reporter went through the usual ways to keep bears out of garbage and added to pick up oranges that drop off trees because the sweet oranges attract the bears in center of state, too.

I've had bears in the backyard. Maybe that's why. They didn't really do much other than stroll through. As for rats, I think between the birds (attracted to fruit trees and the vegetable garden, and the bird feeder) and the snakes take care of them. I've only ever seen one field mouse, and it looked lost.