Citrus growing in South Georgia an option due to climate change, according to Bulloch. Co farmer

BULLOCH COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - Tune in to CBS Sunday morning this weekend and you might see a familiar face.

A Bulloch County man helped bring citrus crops to South Georgia.

A discussion about global warming might seem strange on a 32 degree morning with frost on the ground. But Joe Franklin says his citrus crop in South Georgia makes the case that something is changing.

Franklin started his farm a dozen years ago after a career in the family restaurant business. Part of his research came from living in this region all his life.

“I knew from my childhood that it was colder in my childhood than it is now. I noticed how it seemed to progressively get warmer every year and our winters were shorter,” Franklin said.

An online article about his emerging crop caught the attention of CBS Sunday morning. A crew came and talked to him about his thoughts on how local temperatures have changed and now help citrus thrive here when they were once limited to areas further south.

He calls it a simple matter of fact.

“Climate change has been happening since the beginning of time. I don’t know whether the human race has added to the hastening of it in any way or not,” Franklin said.

He waits to see how his portion of the story weighs into the climate change debate. He just knows it’s something he sees every season and will see for seasons to come.

You can see the story Sunday morning on WTOC.

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