Conservancy aims to save the region's groves by aiding its farmers in marketing Inland fruit
By Roberto Hernandez, the Press-Enterprise, published December 3, 2004
REDLANDS—S.J. Colley has weathered the ups and downs of the orange business.
Over the years, the 81-year-old farmer has had to contend with insect pests, crop-killing frosts and a packinghouse that closed suddenly and left him in the lurch.
Now Colley has given up.
After 51 years of farming in the Redlands area, Colley called it quits this year and cleared the last 5 acres of citrus from his property. He couldn't sell his fruit for enough money to cover the cost of growing it.
"Not many people will work for nothing," he said. "But a farmer will because he'll figure that next year will be better."
Decisions like Colley's are becoming common in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, growers and agricultural officials say.
William Wilson Lewis III / The Press-Enterprise
S. J. Colley farmed citrus in Redlands for decades. But the 81-year-old grower is calling it quits. "Not many people will work for nothing," he said, noting that the cost of upkeep on groves often greatly outweighs the profits.
A newly formed Redlands-area conservancy is pushing to slow the trend through a membership program that gets local residents to sample the navel and valencia oranges that some say are the best-tasting around.
The decline in citrus - once the region's signature industry - is becoming critical, said Bob Knight, Inland Orange Conservancy founder and Redlands Foothill packinghouse general manager.
"We can't waste a single year to try to save some of it," he said in an interview at his Crafton home.
Dwindling Groves
From his second-story balcony, Knight, a fourth-generation orange grower, has seen groves dwindle: To the east, row upon row of orange trees have been replaced by tract homes. To the west, warehouses and industrial buildings have sprung up where groves once grew. Other groves have been shrunk to landscaping for million-dollar homes, the so-called grove estates.
In all of San Bernardino County, for example, citrus under cultivation dropped by more than 3,000 acres, from 7,460 acres in 1983 to 4,230 acres in 2003, said John Gardner, assistant head of the county's Agriculture/Weights and Measures Department. In the San Bernardino Valley between Interstate 215 and the Yucaipa area - the chief citrus-producing area - citrus and other tree crops declined from 6,525 acres to 4,435 acres over the last decade alone.
In Riverside County, citrus acreage was nearly halved from 43,175 acres in 1983 to 23,462 acres by 2003, said Bill Oesterlein, that county's deputy agricultural commissioner. Rising land and water prices can drive growers to give up farming and sell their land, he said.
"A lot of these guys are finding out that they just really couldn't make much per acre with citrus anymore," Oesterlein said.
In San Bernardino County, the value of 1 acre of citrus is roughly $4,000, based on county figures. If sold for development, that acre could be worth about $100,000, said Ralph Megna, Redlands' contracted redevelopment consultant. In the Crafton area, where zoning calls for 5 acres per lot, an acre for development purposes still is worth at least $70,000, Knight said.
Megna added that a property's location, zoning and other factors also play a role in determining its value.
"Let's just save a piece, a small piece," says Bob Knight of Inland Orange Conservancy.
Competition and Costs
The difficult economics have prompted many Inland orange farmers to either shut down their operations or move to the Central and Coachella valleys, he said.
While local citrus gets high marks for taste, Knight and Colley said citrus distributors prefer the larger fruit available from foreign growers in such places as Australia. Consequently, most of the fruit sold in local supermarkets comes from other countries.
Much of the locally grown fruit - considered less attractive and hence less valuable - is shipped to Pacific Rim countries and elsewhere in the United States, or made into juice.
In the end, farmers may earn less than the cost of irrigation, pruning and other upkeep for the groves.
In a good year, Colley said, he could make $7,500. Last year, he made less than $1,000. This year, he decided to clear the last 544 trees on his property. At one point, Colley and his parents cultivated 30 acres in the Redlands and Crafton area, he said. The land has been sold off over the years.
"Why should I waste my energy farming for nothing?" Colley said.
The Wood Streets area of Riverside at one time was filled with orange groves.
Preservation Efforts
The conservancy aims to keep growers in business by getting Inland residents to eat their juicy offerings, Knight said.
For $65 annually, conservancy members will get two five-pound bags of right-off-the-tree oranges per week during the 14- to 16-week season. Pick-up spots and deliveries are being arranged and the fruit will be distributed at community events.
The conservancy will use the money to pay growers more for their fruit than they now earn selling them for juice or export.
The conservancy was formed over the summer and has just begun seeking members. A presentation on the concept is planned at 7 p.m. Dec. 14 at the Prospect Park Carriage House in Redlands.
Service clubs that sign up new members will get donations from the conservancy. It also will work to secure easements or land donations to preserve citrus.
While the cities of Redlands and Riverside and some preservation groups have mechanisms for preserving citrus, the conservancy is believed to be the first effort to focus exclusively on the issue.
SHRINKING CITRUS
Inland acreage devoted to citrus has shrunk over the past 20 years.
SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY: 7,460 acres in 1983; 4,230 acres in 2003
RIVERSIDE COUNTY: 43,175 acres in 1983; 23,462 acres in 2003
For information on the Inland Orange Conservancy: www.inlandorange.com, (909) 794-4484 or inlandorange@hotmail.com.
The Inland Orange Conservancy effort has been embraced by the Redlands Conservancy and University of Redlands Dean of Student Life Char Burgess, who was helping Knight establish the campus as a citrus pick-up spot.
She says the taste of Redlands' oranges can't be matched by the imports.
"You have an orange whose taste is really unparalleled," Burgess said. "So we can all eat oranges from Spain, but that would be sad."
Knight said he hopes the new conservancy can preserve some of the local legacy.
"Let's just save a piece, a small piece," Knight said. "So we can say, 'We saved this. This used to be our heritage.' "
Reach Roberto Hernandez at (909) 806-3060 or rhernandez@pe.com