Today, almost 10,000 Florida growers cultivate 107 million citrus trees.
Citrus now consists of oranges, grapefruit and specialty crops such as tangerines and tangelos.
The production of these fruits comprises the state's second-largest industry behind tourism. Polk County is by far the hub of the state's citrus industry, generating nearly 40 million boxes of citrus per year. Hillsborough County is a distant eighth with annual production near 12 million boxes. Florida citrus creates 140,000 jobs, many of which are filled by seasonal migrant workers. Picking citrus can be a backbreaking profession, but good workers can gather nearly 7,000 pounds of oranges in one day, enought to fill 78 of those 90-pound boxes.