Citrus, cattle family keep things close to home

Wendy and Roy Petteway couldn't have been happier when son R. Roy decided to move back home with his new wife after graduating from the University of Florida with a degree in animal science.

That meant they would move into the house the elder Roy grew up in and carry on the family businesses and traditions.

"I look at it as an honor," said Roy, a fifth-generation farmer and rancher in Zolfo Springs who lives in the house his grandparents lived in. "Wendy and I were good enough parents that he wanted to come back and spend time with us instead of wanting to get away from us."

Spending time with the Petteways means running a cattle ranch, citrus groves and one of only 42 citrus nurseries in the state.

Roy's family moved to Central Florida in 1897. They were originally in the turpentine business, then got into cattle in 1930 and started planting citrus groves in 1940.

Roy was the reason they expanded into the citrus nursery business as well.

"In 1973 I won a star greenhand (award) in the FFA, and my project was a citrus nursery," Roy explained. "I started a little citrus nursery, and that started the citrus nursery division, and now 38 years later, we're a full-service citrus nursery."

Petteway Growers Nursery is a certified screenhouse nursery, meaning the young trees are totally enclosed to keep out insects like the psyllid — the vector for the devastating citrus greening disease.

The screenhouses have an airlock entry system with higher pressure on the inside so that as a person enters, "any insects on their clothing will be blown off and kept outside," Roy explained.

This type of system is mandatory for all citrus nurseries in the state, which is why there are so few of them, he added.

The orange doesn't fall far from the tree, either. While Roy started a citrus nursery on his parents' cattle ranch through FFA, young R. Roy got the family into registered angus cows by showing them with 4-H.

The trophies, ribbons and belt buckles he's won are on display in the company office.

Said Roy with a laugh, "I love the orange groves. I worked in the cattle because I was made to. My son, he loved the cattle and worked in the citrus because he was made to."

Wendy said her family is lucky to be able to get up every morning and do something they love. She didn't grow up in agriculture herself but quickly learned.

"Whenever we were dating, I used to help (Roy) in the citrus nursery," she said. "He used to joke he was either going to have to start paying me or marry me.

"We've been married 30 years," Wendy continued. "In our businesses we're around each other 24/7."

As in any family business, things run more smoothly when the family members get along. Wendy sees the day to day work as "something we can all do as a family."

"We're each other's best friend," Roy added.

A healthy dose of optimism goes a long way in a family-run agriculture business as well.

"Overall I feel like the canker and the hlb (citrus greening) and anything else that happens during the year makes us all better growers. I like to look at my cup as half full instead of half empty," said Roy.

That brand of positivity may just run in the family. "My dad used to say if it was easy everybody'd be doing it!" Roy said.

Wendy agreed. "We're raising a good product that people want to buy."

After fighting government bureaucracy, regulations, weather and bugs, to come out the other end still standing makes you feel like you've accomplished something, she added.