By Ernie Neff
In every Florida citrus community, there are many growers who have been close friends most of their lives. They grew up in the country or small cities not far from each other, went to the same high schools and know the same people. They share the struggles — and before HLB, the joys — of growing citrus. Although this is a common tale, each group has a different story. This is the story of Jim Ellis and Dudley Putnam’s friendship.
Ellis walks into Putnam’s barn office east of Bartow. Putnam tells him, “Sit down before you fall down.” After talking a while, the blue jeans-clad men drive to a nearby grove.
On the way to the grove, Ellis and Putnam see and discuss other growers’ new blocks of trees that are faring badly because of HLB. They talk about the per-acre price that someone paid for a nearby grove. They discuss some of the pros and cons of growing citrus under protective screen (CUPS), though neither has used CUPS.
Driving through his grove, Putnam points to numerous oranges that have fallen on the ground. He says the fruit drop only started two weeks before, in early December. Premature fruit drop has been common and widespread ever since HLB, also called citrus greening, was discovered in Florida in 2005. Putnam says this season’s drop is the worst he’s seen.
Ellis and Putnam have worked in citrus all their lives; both also raise some cattle. Now in their 80s, they discuss citrus, cattle and what doctors they’ve been to. “That’s all we know to talk about. We don’t know anything else,” Putnam says.
Their conversations are easy; they’ve been best friends for more than 60 years. Neither can remember exactly when they met, but agree it had to be in Bartow, probably when they were in their 20s.
BEFORE THEY MET
Ellis was born in 1935 “in a wooden house just north of Alturas, in an orange grove,” he says. He was delivered by Dr. R.L. Hughes, who would later become the grandfather of Putnam’s wife. Alturas is a small community between Bartow and Lake Wales. The Ellis family soon moved west of Alturas and had a small grove. Ellis graduated from Summerlin Institute, the predecessor to Bartow High School. He enlisted in the Army and served three years, including a year and a half in Korea.
Putnam was born in 1939 in Lake Wales to a cattle and citrus family. He also graduated from Summerlin Institute, and he and his future wife attended one semester at Erskine College in South Carolina before returning to Bartow to marry.
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE
Ellis used the GI Bill to attend Florida Southern College (FSC) in Lakeland, where he earned a citrus degree in 1960. FSC has turned out many citrus production managers and industry leaders.
Putnam also attended FSC but didn’t graduate. “I could see the possibilities of growing citrus,” he says in explaining why he left college.
Ellis and Putnam agree that it was probably while carpooling to FSC from Bartow that they formed their friendship.
Putnam wound up working his family’s citrus and cattle operations his entire career.
Ellis had a varied career in citrus, including inheriting and working his family’s grove as a side hustle. Fresh out of FSC, he started a 5-year stint as Polk County field representative for Florida Citrus Mutual.
Ellis then worked decades for Lake Garfield Citrus Cooperative east of Bartow until it went out of business in about 1990 because the 1980s freezes had decimated members’ groves. He started as a salesman for the fresh fruit packinghouse and eventually became manager of the cooperative.
After the cooperative closed, Ellis sold agricultural chemicals for a short while. He recently retired after working about 30 years in the bond and license section of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Division of Fruit and Vegetables, first in Winter Haven, then Bartow.
STRONG CAMARADERIE
Ellis and Putnam have lived six blocks from each other in Bartow for decades. It’s a rare week that they don’t see each other, or at least talk. “I’ll call him tonight and ask, ‘What did you do today?’” Ellis says.
Their wives were in the same high school class and go to class reunions, “and we go with them,” Ellis says. “We have dinners together with our wives.”
“When you’re in ag, there’s a camaraderie there,” says Putnam. “You’re in a freeze or hurricane, or the government is putting you out of business.” He adds that growers understand that if not for good fortune, “we wouldn’t have provided for our families. That, in itself, makes us closer than most people.”
Ellis nods in agreement. “We share the same experiences,” like seeing freezes make fruit drop from trees, he says.
“One of my great enjoyments in life is having my relationship with DY Putnam,” Ellis says. Only a few people call Putnam DY. He got that name when he was young. One of his father’s workers couldn’t pronounce Dudley, so just used the first and last letters of his name.
In turn, Putnam occasionally calls Ellis “Jimmy” rather than Jim. “There’s a lot of things I call him,” he says.
Ellis recently ceased being a citrus grower. “Between greening and cold weather, it’s (his grove) just been non-productive a couple of years,” he explains.
Asked about his plans for citrus, Putnam says, “The only thing I can say about it is, it’s been a wonderful way of life, and we’re persevering.”
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