Lindy Savelle: A Voice for Georgia Citrus Growers

Lindy Savelle took an unconventional route to becoming a leader for Georgia citrus. Turns out, her path was paved with success.

The former federal law enforcement investigator decided to pursue a second career as a Georgia citrus grower and became a voice for the state’s blossoming industry. Almost 10 years after planting her first trees, Savelle has emerged as a respected member of the state’s citrus community that continues to grow every year.

“It’s very humbling to think that they would entrust me to represent them and be the voice of the growers,” Savelle said. “I am retired. This Georgia citrus has become my baby. I eat, live and breathe it. Not a lot of people have the time to do that or want to do that. I want to be able to help everybody: big, little and in between. That does take a lot of responsibility.”

SERVICE FIRST

In July of this year, Savelle became executive director of the Georgia Citrus Association after having served as the president of the board of directors from 2016 to 2024. She serves in several other ways, including the following roles: 

• Member of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency State Committee
• Dean of the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Advisory Council
• Member of the American Farm Bureau Federation Issues Advisory Committee
• Member of the Georgia Citrus Commodity Commission
• Member of the Georgia Farm Bureau Policy Development Committee
• Member of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Emergency Citrus Disease Research and Extension Program Review Committee

Savelle and her husband, Perry, own and operate JoNina Farm in Thomas County. They operate an agritourism commercial citrus operation, open their grove to the public and host a series of Clip-N-Sip events. People can clip their own citrus and enjoy juices, teas and lemonades made on JoNina Farm. At the same location, the Savelles also own and operate Georgia Grown Citrus, a USDA-certified citrus nursery.

FROM ADVISEE TO ADVISOR

Before Savelle’s life centered around citrus, she spent more than 34 years in federal law enforcement, including 4½ years overseas. Upon retirement, she and Perry pursued a venture in growing citrus. She collaborated with Jake Price, Lowndes County Extension coordinator, who helped start the citrus industry in Georgia.

“When I met with him about the prospect of putting in citrus, I had a notepad and a list of questions,” said Savelle, who admitted her pursuit was met with some resistance. “We started with citrus, and people thought we were crazy. They kind of scoffed at us and said you can’t grow citrus up here in Georgia. There were a few of us that had already started by planting a few trees. By October of 2016, there were about 27 of us that got together who were growing citrus or were planning to put in citrus.”

Almost 10 years later, Savelle uses her experience to educate other potential producers. She is not afraid to admit her own mistakes in advising would-be growers about how to succeed in the citrus industry.

“I tell everybody that I am no citrus expert on what to do. But I’m an expert on what not to do. We’ve made some mistakes, so I don’t have any problems exposing what I don’t know,” Savelle said.

Savelle advises producers that there are various factors that will impact a citrus farm’s ability to be successful. Growers need access to water, windbreaks and frost protection. They’ll also require good quality trees, well-drained soil and patience, she says.

GROWING INDUSTRY

Georgia’s citrus stands at around 4,500 acres, exhibiting incredible growth for an industry that was met with naysayers from the outset.

“There for a while, the citrus industry was doubling every year, and we were flabbergasted that it had taken off so sharply. There was no other way to describe it but exponential explosion,” Savelle said.

She sees the industry continuing to grow, but admits that 4,500 acres still isn’t that much, so more growth is needed.

SPREADING OUT VOLUME

When the fledgling Georgia citrus industry began, growers were looking for a great piece of cold-hardy fruit. They found that in satsuma, but it created a situation where all the fruit volume came at once during harvest. Savelle said the industry is working to correct that issue by planting varieties that are earlier and later than satsuma.

“We have to start to flatten out the curve of production by first introducing and encouraging growers to plant things other than satsumas,” she said. “Initially, Georgia’s citrus industry was more than 90% satsumas. Now, it is down in the 60% range, so we’ve been successful in this effort.

“As for the trees already in the ground and producing, the way we’ve spread out the volume of fruit is not by when it’s harvested but by the avenues of where it’s marketed. This year the volume of fruit is profoundly higher than last year because we had little to no production after the 2022 freeze effect. But it is also profoundly higher than it was two years ago as trees continue to come into production for the first time.”

With this robust amount of fruit, the industry is looking for many ways to market and sell the crop. Savelle said this has called for creativity and seeking new markets.

“This year we expect to ship a significant amount of fruit into Florida to be sold as fresh fruit, with the secondary market of juice ready to take the #2s and any culls,” she said. “We also have some growers selling direct to buyers out of state with truckloads of fresh fruit, and groups of smaller growers coming together to cooperatively ship directly to retail chains.

“We must work to make sure all fruit gets picked and sold this year. We don’t want to see fruit left hanging on anyone’s trees. That would be detrimental to the industry overall. When you’re a young industry, you must work together to take care of each other.”

WORKING WITH OTHER STATES

Savelle is optimistic about the future of the Georgia citrus industry because citrus growers from surrounding states are starting to see the value of production in Georgia.

“The interesting thing that’s happening, too, and I think we’re going to see more and more of this, is I had a Florida grower drive up here to meet with us (in August) about buying land and putting acreage in up here. He says he’s been to Georgia numerous times to visit and is just blown away by how good the citrus looks up here,” Savelle said. “If there’s the ability to grow fruit up here and that’s what they know, we’ll welcome them with open arms. They’ve got the knowledge and experience that we’re lacking.

“We’ve got the opportunity here for a very large window. We’ve obviously got to listen and take the advice of people who have been through citrus greening in order to keep the disease at bay as best we can in Georgia. That means listening to Florida and listening to California.”

Sponsored Content