English Family’s Pure Will To Farm
May 1, 2007 Surviving in any industry for 130 years is challenging, but there is perhaps no more difficult industry than Florida agriculture. At every turn, growers fight weather, diseases, insects, urban encroachment, land-value fluctuations, water constraints, increasing input costs, and tempestuous markets. Still, for those few who have maintained a viable business for that long, there is a common trait that binds them together.
Pure will.
“You have to have a commitment to agriculture and a willingness to work through every difficult time,” says Hugh English, grove manager of English Brothers Farm in Alva. “You need a willingness to stay the course and never deter from your convictions.”
Through Thick And Thin
When a flood in 1877 forced the English family out of Monroe County in northern Florida, English’s great-grandmother, a widow, took her seven children south to Alva. Back then, Alva was a tiny town, barely more than a few hundred people with only one schoolhouse for the area children. One of the children, English’s grandfather, began to plant citrus trees and vegetables on their land. Gradually, they added sugarcane and cattle. As the business took root, the family became full-fledged farmers.
“My grandfather had a vision for the family,” English says. “He wanted to make farming a livelihood for us. And, for many years, it worked out that way.”
By the 1950s, the English family had grown the operation to about 500 acres. As the acreage increased, though, so did the family’s size.
“There just were too many people for the farm to completely sustain us economically,” he says. “Some of us left and had to get jobs elsewhere.”
While young English was busy in grade school, his family faced a big problem. Flooding was a major concern for South Florida growers during the 1940s and 1950s, and the English family stepped in to help.
“My family donated land for a canal to be built to alleviate flooding of the Caloosahatchee River,” he says. “Every time there would be a big storm, the river would overflow and saturate the land, essentially killing anything planted on it.
“Who knows what would have happened if they, and other growers, had not stepped in and took action.”
The spirit of agriculture and dedication to the industry was not lost on English. When he graduated from Alva High School in 1954, he attended the University of Florida (UF), where he studied animal sciences. However, his work in the fields would be stalled, when, upon graduation in 1958, he was drafted into the Army where he served for two years. Upon returning to his native Florida, English took a job at the Florida Department of Plant Industry for about two years and, following that experience, was the postmaster of Alva.
Back To His Roots
Of course, growing was in his blood, and the call of the open fields and orange blossoms was too much to ignore. In June 1965, English took a position with A. Duda & Sons in its new citrus grove development in Hendry County. It was here that the beginnings of English’s innovation and dedication become apparent.
“English’s pioneering experience with the production of citrus on the Flatwoods soils of the area was to prove invaluable to the future of the Duda citrus enterprise and the Southwest Florida citrus industry,” says Dallas Townsend, former center director at the UF/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences’ (IFAS) Hendry County Extension office. “In 1965, there was little information or research to support production of citrus on the Flatwoods soils of Southwest Florida and, as a result, English immediately initiated many research demonstrations in cooperation with researchers and Extension agents in the area.”
The English family farm grew in acreage over the years. And, while he could not devote his entire time to the family operation, English remained an integral part of the growth.
“I implemented a lot of the same principles I learned at the large operation on our small grove,” he says. “Some things worked, some did not, but we always kept trying new things to stay fresh and ahead of the curve.”
Active Involvement
“When the citrus industry of Central Florida was nearly destroyed by the freezes of the late 1970s and early 1980s, growers began a rapid expansion in the Southwest Florida area,” says Townsend. “It soon became apparent that the growers needed to form a growers association in order to promote and enhance the citrus industry of the area.
“That’s just what English did.”
In 1985, English gave leadership to the initial planning, organization, and development of the Gulf Citrus Growers Association and served as the founding president for two years.
“Those were really dynamic years for citrus in South Florida,” English says. “We had to adjust to the influx, but the increased number of growers gave us real strength.”
Of course, English’s involvement did not end there. He served a three-year term on the Florida Citrus Commission from 1991 through 1993, serving as vice chairman in 1992 and chairman in 1993. He has served on the Citrus Advisory Committee for both the Florida Farm Bureau Federation and the American Farm Bureau Federation. He’s been a member of the Hendry County Citrus Advisory Committee, the UF/IFAS Southwest Florida Research and Education Center Citrus Research Advisory Committee, the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center Advisory Committee, and the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame selection committee.
“I’ve always felt that the only way to ensure the success of your industry is to stay active in the decisions that affect it,” he says. “My family has farmed Florida soil for more than 130 years. We will continue for another 130 if I can help it.”
English’s dedication extends to every part of his life. He and his wife, Beverly, have been married for 47 years and they have two children, Katie and Callie. The English Brothers Farm is owned and operated by Hugh, his brothers James Jr., Ed, and Joe, and their cousin, Colden English.
“My grandparents, parents, and everyone else in my family have instilled great values in us,” he says. “If you have the will to succeed — in anything — you can.”
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