Michael Woodley returned to his hometown of Frostproof, Florida, in 2011 at the request of his dying mother to take care of the land and keep it in the family. After a firefighting career of more than 30 years with the Florida Forest Service that took him all over the state, he is now growing lemons on 20 acres on his grandparents’ property.
Woodley comes from a long line of agricultural producers on both sides of his family. His great-great grandparents on his father’s side sailed to Fort Myers from Ireland in the 1880s and had hundreds of acres of citrus and cattle. His family on his mother’s side has been in agriculture for four generations. Now Woodley is a small producer of a specialty crop.
“When people think of farming, they think of big fields, combines and …..
Read moree about Michael Woodley: From Firefighter to Lemon Grower on the Citrus Industry website.