John Jackson, Lake County Citrus Agent

 1.  Faculty member, University of Florida 1968 - 2006.  Responsible for adult education and field demonstration plots in the area of fruit production and marketing in Lake , Orange , Seminole, Volusia, Brevard, Osceola and Marion Counties .
2.  B. S. and M.S. from the University of Florida majoring in agricultural engineering and fruit crops.  Graduated in 1966 (B.S.) and 1968 (M.S.) with master’s work dealing with irrigation/water use by citrus.  Also involved in cold protection studies for citrus.·      
3. Involved with Water Conserv II, a water reuse project in Orange County , as  Research/Demonstration coordinator for 20 years.  Develop budgets, managed field plots and secretary of the Mid Florida Citrus Foundation, research component of Water Conserv

  

 

 

 





 4. Developer and member of the Management Team for the Florida Automated Weather Network (FAWN).  Author of the Cold Protection Tool Kit, a series of management tools available on the FAWN web site.
5.  Third generation Floridian with thirty eight (38) years experience in the citrus industry.  Areas of expertise include citrus production and marketing with special emphasis on cold protection.
6. Recipient of two (2) USDA Superior Service Awards, the first in 1991 for work with Water Conserv II and the second in 2004 for contributions through FAWN.

 

                                                                Citrus agent retires after 38 bittersweet years in area
                                Ramsey Campbell  Sentinel Staff Writer    July 30, 2006

TAVARES -- When John Jackson started as Central Florida's citrus agent in 1968, citrus was the region's dominant influence -- economically, politically and socially. But that was before the arrival of Disney and the devastating freezes in the 1980s. Agriculture experienced both its peak and its nadir during Jackson's 38 years as citrus agent. In 1982, before the killer freezes, Lake had 117,000 acres of citrus, making it the second biggest citrus-growing county in the state. Now it has fewer than 20,000 acres of citrus.

Jackson started in 1968 as citrus agent for Lake and Orange counties and retires Monday as agent for Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Volusia, Brevard, Marion, Putnam and Flagler. "Citrus is a way of life," Jackson said. "But the freezes of '83 to '85 and again in 1989 were shattering. Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson said Jackson's expertise guided growers in Central Florida through freezes, droughts and hurricanes."He's seen it all," Bronson said. "His knowledge and experience will be missed."

Umatilla grower Nick Faryna said Jackson has had a profound impact on the industry. Faryna cited as examples Jackson's advocacy of computerized weather monitoring as well as his work on how reused water from Orange County's Conserve II program could be used for agriculture in south Lake County. "John is a cut above," he said.

But citrus and agriculture were not always in Jackson's blood. "I was a city boy; all I knew came from the classroom," said Jackson, 62, a native of Orlando whose uncle J. Rolfe Davis served as the city's mayor in the early 1950s. The son of an appraiser, Jackson went to the University of Florida to get a degree in engineering. However, the math was too daunting; he switched his major to mechanized agriculture and earned a master's degree. "But I still didn't have any practical knowledge," he said. "I had never even ridden on a tractor." He was interested in working as an agricultural extension agent for the university, but there were no openings when he graduated. So he took a job in Fort Pierce supervising a citrus crew -- it was his only hands-on experience with agriculture -- for a few months. There, he learned how to drive a tractor, run other grove equipment and work with labor crews. Four months later there was an opening for a citrus agent in Lake and Orange counties. It offered better pay, the benefits of being on the University of Florida faculty -- and air-conditioning.
Over the years, the job gradually expanded in territory. Shortly after taking the position, Jackson and his wife moved into a house near Eustis, where they raised their four children and still make their home. Jackson plans to spend more time with his three grandchildren, work in the garden and fish. But he still wants to help fine-tune the Florida Automated Weather Network, a computerized freeze-warning system for growers that he helped establish. He also has a few other citrus-related projects that remain unfinished. "I'm not going to disappear," he said.

Ramsey Campbell can be reached at rcampbell@orlandosentinel.com or 352-742-5923.



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