As large parts of the Sunshine State’s once-famous citrus industry have all but dried up over the past two decades because of two fatal diseases, greening and citrus canker, some farmers are turning to the pongamia tree, a climate-resilient tree with the potential to produce plant-based proteins and a sustainable biofuel.

For years, pongamia has been used for shade trees, producing legumes — little brown beans — that are so bitter wild hogs won’t even eat them.

But unlike the orange and grapefruit trees that long occupied these rural Florida groves northwest of West Palm Beach, pongamia trees don’t need much attention.

Pongamia trees also don’t need fertilizer or pesticides. They flourish in drought or rainy conditions. And they don’t require teams of workers to pick the beans. A machine simply shakes the tiny beans from the branches when they are ready to harvest.

Terviva, a San Francisco-based company founded in 2010 by Naveen Sikka, then uses its patented process to remove the biopesticides that cause the bitter taste, making the beans suitable for food production.

“Florida offers a rare opportunity for both Terviva and former citrus farmers. The historical decline of the citrus industry has left farmers without a crop that can grow profitably on hundreds of thousands of acres, and there needs to be a very scalable replacement, very soon,” Sikka told The Associated Press. “Pongamia is the perfect fit.”

What is the pongamia tree?

The pongamia is a wild tree native to India, Southeast Asia and Australia.

The legume is now being used to produce several products, including Panova culinary oil and protein, which are featured ingredient in Aloha’s Kona protein bars. The company also makes protein flour.

The legumes also produce oil that can be used as a biofuel, largely for aviation, which leaves a very low carbon footprint, said Ron Edwards, chairman of Terviva’s board of directors and a long-time Florida citrus grower.

Turning a wild tree into a domestic one hasn’t been easy, Edwards said.

“There are no books to read on it, either, because no one else has ever done it,” he said.

Bees and other pollinators feast on the pongamia’s flowers, supporting local biodiversity, Edwards said. An acre of the trees can potentially provide the same amount of oil as four acres of soy beans, he added.

What’s left after the oil is removed from the pongamia bean is “a very high-grade protein that can be used as a substitute in baking and smoothies and all kinds of other plant-based protein products,” Edwards said. “There’s a lot of potential for the food industry and the oil and petroleum industry.”

Why Florida?

“We know pongamia grows well in Florida, and the end markets for the oil and protein that come from the pongamia beans — biofuel, feed, and food ingredients — are enormous,” Sikka said. “So farmers can now reduce their costs and more closely align to the leading edge of sustainable farming practices.”

At a nursery near Fort Pierce, workers skilled in pongamia grafting techniques affix a portion of the mother tree to a pongamia rootstock, which ensures the genetics and desired characteristics of the mother tree are perpetuated in all of Terviva’s trees.

Pongamia vs. citrus

Citrus had been Florida’s premier crop for years until disease caught up with it starting in the 1990s with citrus canker and later greening.

Citrus canker, a bacterial disease, is not harmful to humans, but it causes lesions on the fruit, stems and leaves. Eventually, it makes the trees unproductive.

Citrus greening, also known as Huanglongbing, slowly kills trees and degrades the fruit, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Greening has spread throughout Florida since 2005, devastating countless groves and reducing citrus production by 75%. The disease has spread to Louisiana, Texas and California.

Hurricane Ian caused about $1.8 billion in damages to Florida’s agriculture in September 2023, hitting the citrus industry at the beginning of its growing season.

Disease and climate issues have also affected most of the world’s top citrus-producing countries. For example, this year’s harvest in Brazil — the world’s largest exporter of orange juice — is forecast to be the worst in 36 years because of flooding and drought, according to a forecast by Fundecitrus, a citrus growers’ organization in Sao Paulo state.

But climate and disease have little effect on pongamia trees, the company’s officials said.

“It’s just tough, a jungle-tested tree” Edwards said. “It stands up to a lot of abuse with very little caretaking.”

Pongamia also grows well in Hawaii, where it now thrives on land previously used for sugarcane.

What are citrus farmers saying?

John Olson, who owns Circle O Ranch, west of Fort Pierce, has replaced his grapefruit groves with 215 acres (87.01 hectares) of pongamia trees.

“We went through all the ups and downs of citrus and eventually because of greening, abandoned citrus production,” Olson said. “For the most part, the citrus industry has died in Florida.”

While the grapefruit grove was modest, it was common for a grove that size to be profitable in the 1980s and 1990s, Olson said.

Edwards said farmers used various sprays to kill the insect that was spreading the disease. Eventually, the cost of taking care of citrus trees became too risky.

That’s when he decided to go a different route.

“What attracted me to pongamia was the fact that one it can repurpose fallow land that was citrus and is now lying dormant,” he said. “From an ecological point of view, it’s very attractive because it can replace some of the oils and vegetable proteins that are now being generated by things like palm oil, which is environmentally a much more damaging crop.”

What about biofuel?

In December 2023, Terviva signed an agreement with Mitsubishi Corporation to provide biofuel feedstock that can be converted into biodiesel, renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel.

“Our partnership with Mitsubishi is off to a great start,” Sikka said, noting that the company coordinates closely with Mitsubishi on tree plantings and product development and sales. “Terviva’s progress has accelerated thanks to Mitsubishi’s expertise and leadership around the globe on all facets of Terviva’s business.”

What food products does pongamia produce?

The research is ongoing, but Edwards said they have made really good graham crackers in addition to the table oil and other plant-based protein products, including flour and protein bars.

Pongamia offers an alternative to soybean and yellow pea protein “if you don’t want your protein to come from meat,” he said.

The federal judge presiding over former President Trump’s Florida case has paused several court deadlines to consider presidential immunity. 

Trump’s legal team presented a motion Friday seeking “a partial stay of further proceedings” in the case brought by special counsel Jack Smith “until President Trump’s motions based on Presidential immunity and the Appointments and Appropriations Clauses are resolved.”

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon on Saturday agreed to hear arguments, allowing two weeks for both camps to prepare briefs regarding the relevance of the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity.

TRUMP ASKS FLORIDA COURT TO PAUSE CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS CASE AFTER SUPREME COURT IMMUNITY DECISION

Trump faces charges from Smith’s investigation into his possession of classified materials. 

He pleaded not guilty to all 37 felony counts from Smith’s probe, including willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statements.

TRUMP IMMUNITY CASE: SUPREME COURT RULES EX-PRESIDENTS HAVE SUBSTANTIAL PROTECTION FROM PROSECUTION

Trump was also charged with an additional three counts as part of a superseding indictment from the investigation, an additional count of willful retention of national defense information and two additional obstruction counts.

The Alto Lee Adams, Sr. United States Courthouse in Fort Pierce, Fla., where U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon is presiding over the case of former President Trump.  (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The Supreme Court ruled Monday in the Trump v. United States case that a former president has substantial immunity from prosecution for official acts while in office but not for unofficial acts.

In a 6-3 decision, the court sent the matter back to a lower court when the justices did not apply the ruling to whether former President Trump is immune from prosecution regarding actions related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

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Walt Nauta, left, an aide to former President Trump, walks with his lawyer, Stanley Woodward, right, as they leave the Alto Lee Adams, Sr. United States Courthouse in Fort Pierce, Fla.  (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

“The President enjoys no immunity for his unofficial acts, and not everything the President does is official,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority. 

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman and Brianna Herlihy contributed to this report.

For the first time in recent memory, the University of Florida heads into a football season a decided underdog in eight of its twelve games. DraftKings places the over/under on win total for the Gators at a paltry 4.5. Pundits from Bristol, Conn. to Atlanta look ready to play a dirge for a season that hasn’t started yet. 

As a result, a palpable sense of worry flows through the fanbase. Cursed with an unbelievably tough schedule, the Gators, in the eyes of many, appear headed for a disastrous 2024 season. Yet, something feels different. No one told the football team that their season ended before it started. Ignore those folks and enjoy the games ahead. 

The Schedule

Make no mistake, Florida will play a brutal schedule against some of the SEC’s top teams. During the month of November, Florida plays Georgia, Texas, LSU, Ole Miss and Florida State. Not to mention, Tennessee and Texas A&M show up early in the season. 

On paper, all of these teams possess top-tier offenses, defenses, and coaching. Their rosters bubble over with blue-chip prospects and All-Americans. Correspondingly, NFL scouts representing all thirty-two franchises will attend these matchups. In a way, the schedule makers will end up helping the Gators more than anything else. 

The Hotseat

As profiled here and everywhere, Billy Napier needs a great showing to keep his job. He knows this, and fully understands the situation at hand. In all honesty, that fact should help the Gators. Napier comprehends the deal. In movie imagery, he will make his last stand in The Swamp. 

With pundits already choosing his successor via content, and those coaches looking at Zillow for homes in Alachua County, no play drawn looks unreasonable. With a job to lose, but a $32-million buyout, Napier can coach with a clear mind. The worst the school can do is fire him and pay an eight-figure buyout. No opponent will rattle Napier and his team. 

Upside

Florida enters the season with a seasoned quarterback, within a system he thrives. Graham Mertz fits the scheme. Only three of Florida’s opponents will return a starting quarterback. As a result, many will use this season as a way of grasping a system. 

Meanwhile, Mertz will head in to games with a feeling that his opponent will not. Moreover, six of Florida’s games occur in The Swamp. With 89,000 people, a majority clad in blue and orange, home-field becomes that much more important.

Opponent Expectations Burden

People continue to underdiscuss what Florida’s opponents will face. Georgia, Ole Miss, Florida State, TAMU, and Tennessee all have playoff expectations. Probability being what they are, a couple of those teams will lose multiple games. Under those circumstances, their fate changes from a certain home game to possibly playing on the road or potential omission from the process altogether. 

One of these opposing will exhibit some variation of posterior puckering, making bad decisions, leading to an upset by Florida. Since 1988, only three Gator seasons ended with five or fewer wins. Somehow, somewhere, probably multiple teams will fall. Plus, the karmic nature of college football dictates conference chaos.