Vic Story, Jr., of Lake Wales, Fla., is a citrus leader during a time the industry faces a threatening bacterial disease called citrus greening.

Story is fighting back by spraying psyllid insects that spread the disease, by replanting infected groves and by planting alternative crops such as peaches. This year, he’s increasing his citrus plantings by 22% and doubling his plantings of peaches.

As a result of his success as a citrus grower, Story has been selected as the 2015 Florida winner of the Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year award. Story joins nine other state winners as finalists for the award. The overall winner will be announced Tuesday, Oct. 20 at the Sunbelt Ag Expo farm show in Moultrie, Ga.

The Story Companies own about 2,000 acres and manage citrus production on another 5,000 acres. Most groves are planted to Valencia or Hamlin oranges yielding 400 boxes of fruit per acre. His other citrus includes Pineapple, Navel and Murcott oranges, white and red or pink grapefruit, Orlando tangelos and Sunburst tangerines.

During the early 1990’s, he needed additional income. So he started a caretaking company, providing citrus production practices to other grove owners. This company has grown and now has 25 employees.

He recently was hired to fertilize 490 acres. Story says variable rate application will save this grove owner 20% on fertilizer costs.

He bases fertilizer applications on extensive soil and plant tissue sampling. His irrigation has been converted from overhead sprinklers to water-conserving microjet sprinklers placed under the trees. Water with a high pH can harm tree roots, so Story adds urea and sulfuric acid to irrigation water. This gives the trees a healthier appearance.

In past years, Story followed a set routine of production practices with little variation in the amount of fertilizer or herbicides. He says, “Citrus growers must now be real farmers due to greening and other diseases. We raise citrus in five counties, and in blocks of five to 20 acres. You can no longer treat each block the same.”

Greening is serious, and many believe greening will doom citrus production in Florida. Story disagrees. He’s planting new citrus groves at a time others are pushing up their trees and converting their land to other uses.

Until last year, he raised grass sod and beef cattle. He liquidated these enterprises to plant this land to his new citrus groves.

Citrus plantings in Hardee County symbolize his approach. There, he has an established grove, a young grove and a grove just now being planted.

A farmer for 50 years, Story began farming with his dad after attending the University of Florida and serving in the Army Reserves. He and his father specialized in buying depressed groves and turning them into productive groves.

Over the years, he has increased citrus planting density. Story says many new groves have about 300 trees per acre, while older groves were planted at 150 trees per acre.

He markets processed citrus as premium fruit juice. He uses multi-year contracts with floor prices and clauses that allow for higher prices when industry average prices rise. He sells peaches through an established cooperative.

Story helped develop the Sun Lion fresh fruit brand and sells this citrus to the Whole Foods grocery chain. He hopes to expand this label by producing juice and by selling to other grocery stores.

Peaches are a new crop in Central Florida. Story planted his peaches on small blocks where greening rendered citrus unprofitable. His peaches are University of Florida-developed varieties that require low chill hours.

By partnering with another company, Story is able to use H-2A foreign guest workers to harvest his crops.

He also participates in an incentive program from the Florida’s Natural cooperative. It offers loans to growers planting new citrus trees. “Your trees are your most important asset,” says Story. “Keep your trees productive as long as you can.”

Greening is a challenge, but Story views it as another in a long list of citrus threats such citrus canker, tristeza virus and the like. He believes greening can be managed if not completely controlled.

Read more about Story at the Sunbelt Ag Expo website. The Sunbelt Expo will be Oct. 20-22 this year.