Day 4

For Shana Zuehlke of Britton, "Seeing an alligator farm was so interesting. I’m very familiar with beef production but never really thought about how to raise an alligator for meat, hide and all the rest. The Tillmans said nothing is wasted. They have the process running like a well-oiled machine.”

Genie Tillman of Parker Island Gator Farm at Lake Placid told the SDARL alumni group that she didn’t want to get in the gator business, but her husband did. “And as a good Southern wife, all I could say was, ’Yes, dear.’"

That was 36 years ago and thousands of gators ago. Joe Tillman used to poach alligators and eventually decided to start raising them. They started with 25 animals and now have 11,000. Their family has eight farms with their children joining in the family business. Joe has had some health problems. At age 79, he is very thankful that all his children live with 30 miles. The couple’s son Vance helps with the business. Parker Island Gator Farm breeds gators, hatches thousands of little gators from eggs and raises the critters until market size of 4 to 5 feet. 

The babies are kept in 87-degree heated rooms and fed a “gator chow” mix with 65 % protein in the early stage of their life. As the gators grow, they move to larger rooms and are fed ground up fish parts. A group of breeding critters are kept in a fenced in area with a pond. Genie says the paperwork is the hardest of the operation as she writes everything in longhand.

Of the 12,129 eggs they put in the incubator last year, only 697 died. 

Genie said the animals are processed by their family and salted. Then they go to the tannery where they can be polished and dyed any colors.

Last year, 2000 hides were processed. Those gators 7-foot-long are paid $7 a foot and those 9 feet long are paid $9 a foot. 

It is illegal in Florida to kill an alligator unless you have a permit.

Todd Sanderson of Elkton said, “The sight of 1,400 alligators all in one pen was impressive. I liked that it was a family business.” We were told, “Remember, the gator is more afraid of you than you are of the gator. I just hope the gator remembers,” Don Norton, SDARL CEO. 

The SDARL members enjoyed cooked gator that night, grilled with the Cajun seasoning. 

Marketing Citrus

A unique group leads the marketing of citrus products in Florida. The 9-member Florida Citrus Commission is the governing board of the Florida Department of Citrus, an executive agency of the Florida government charged with the marketing, research and regulation of the Florida citrus industry. 

LeAnna Himrod, Communications Manager for the group, said the commission has a budget of $7.5 million just for marketing for the citrus industry. Funds come from the grower tax assessment generated by assessing $.07 per box of processed oranges, processed grapefruit, fresh grapefruit and all specialty citrus. 

The group doesn’t work for these businesses but alongside of them: Florida’s Natural, Tropicana, Minute Maid and Simply Orange. The group acts proactively to get ahead of potential problems. Surveys show 9 out of 10 families feel good about serving 100 percent Florida orange juice. The social media campaigns target the millennial Moms, those born from 1980 to 1995. They have a purchasing power of $200 million a year. The commission staff monitors news sources and prepare a response, aligning with experts and influencers. It’s hard to track the success of the program. 

Jon Nelson said, “Visiting with people in the different areas has illustrated the similarities we face in agriculture. When we were at the gator farm, Genie told us the price for gator skins was half of what it used to be, but she was sure the price would eventually come back up. In all ag, we are ‘price takers’ and face similar issues.”

Citrus issues are critical to the area. The challenges in the citrus business will be shared in the next installment of the blog.