Many people know California as being a prominent olive producer in the U.S., but did you know that a small but growing number of olives are also produce in Florida?¹ Growing olives in Florida is now being considered as an alternative to growing increasingly less sustainable or profitable crops.²

Olive Facts

• Olive trees are evergreen and are known for their slender, gray-green or silvery leaves. The undersides of the leaves have hairs that help retain moisture.³
• Native to the Mediterranean, olive trees are cold, drought, and salt tolerant tolerant.⁴
• Trees are actually more productive on less fertile soils than they are on fertile soils and are usually not affected by pests and disease.³
• Olives right off the tree are very bitter and have to be processed before they become edible.³

As Florida growers turn their sights to more sustainable crops, we may see more olives and olive oil produced in the Sunshine State.⁵ For more on current research in Florida olive production, please see the UF/IFAS Small Farm Olive page.

1. Jennifer L. Gillett-Kaufman, Sandra A. Allan, Jonael H. Bosques-Mendez, and Lyle J. Buss, Pests and Fungal Organisms Identified on Olives (Olea europaea) in Florida, ENY-871, Gainesville: University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, 2014, http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in1046
2. “Citrus Extension Alternative Crops,” UF/IFAS Citrus Extension, 2015, http://www.crec.ifas.ufl.edu/extension/alternative_crops/
3. Mack Thetford, Jennifer L. Gillett-Kaufman, Michael J. Mulvaney, Olives for Your Florida Landscape, ENH1254, Gainesville: University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, 2015, https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ep515
4. Louise Ferguson and Paul Vossen, “Growing Olives in Florida,” UF/IFAS Citrus Extension, 2012, http://www.crec.ifas.ufl.edu/extension/olives/presentations/Ferguson2/index.html
5. Beverly James, “Reeling from citrus greening, UF/IFAS researchers support new olive industry in Florida,” IFAS News, 2016, http://news.ifas.ufl.edu/2016/02/reeling-from-citrus-greening-ufifas-researchers-help-launch-olive-industry-in-florida/

Photo credits: Inácio Pires/Thinkstock

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