Remembering influential south Florida agricultural pioneer Joe Marlin Hilliard, 79
Joe Marlin Hilliard, a larger-than-life presence in south Florida agriculture for more than half a century, died Aug. 26 in Naples. He was 79.
Hilliard's impact on sugar, cattle, citrus and row crops continues to reverberate: His kingmaking touch helped shape Florida politics and his philanthropic gifts educated future generations of food-producers.
Born at Fort Myers’ Lee Memorial Hospital on Jan. 18, 1943 to Joe Alexander Hilliard and Wilmuth Gabriele "Tippy" Yarbrough, Joe Marlin grew up on the famed Hilliard family ranch outside Clewiston in Hendry County. The ranch was founded by his grandfather in 1906, then later owned by his father, Joe, and uncle Marlin in the 1920s. After graduating from Clewiston High School in 1961, he began working on the ranch. where he continued to live for most of his life, raising his three children there while managing it to include citrus, vegetable and sugarcane production.
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Joe Marlin Hilliard was inducted into the Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame
Hilliard’s 2017 induction into the Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame notes that he “developed thousands of acres of native pine and palmetto woods into pasture by allowing farmers to clear and farm the land for two years, then planting improved grass.”
He joined the fight against the noxious pasture pest plant, the tropical soda apple, working with the University of Florida’s agricultural extension service to educate south Florida farmers about the weed.
Hilliard revolutionized sandy-soil sugarcane growing and harvesting, creating research and demonstration projects with the Immokalee Research and Education Center while working to form the South Florida Agricultural Council.
South Florida’s sugar industry had long been dominated by labor-intensive hand-cutting, usually done by immigrant guest workers with long blades.
When sourcing that labor became challenging, Hilliard got creative, introducing mechanical harvesting of sugarcane by bringing equipment and technology from Australia and helping to form the Sugarland Harvesting Cooperative, says longtime Hendry County extension agent Gene McAvoy. Machine harvesting was eventually adopted by all the area’s growers.
Joe Hilliard was 'an innovator in Florida sugarcane farming'
U.S. Sugar President and CEO Robert H. Buker Jr. called Hilliard and his family’s relationship with the company “long and storied,” writing in a release that he was “an innovator in Florida sugarcane farming, an entrepreneur, a rancher who greatly improved his family’s holdings, a shrewd business partner and a close personal friend.”
Hilliard and his family business were co-owners and a key force in the ongoing development of Airglades International Airport near Clewiston, intended to help heartland Florida bring its products – produce, cut flowers, seafood and more – to market via Latin American cargo hubs.
McAvoy said Hilliard’s influence can’t be overstated. He was a “a huge force in South Florida ag. When I started as an agent in Hendry County, I was told if you want to be successful, make Alico, US Sugar and Joe Marlin Hilliard happy and you will do fine.”
When Hilliard spoke, the agricultural community and legislators alike listened, he said. “He was on top of issues affecting the ag community, and when he called a meeting of key farmers, landowners, and ranchers to his ‘cabin,’ they came and things happened.”
Yet for all his success in citrus, sugarcane, sod and vegetables, “cattle was where he began and his first love,” McAvoy said.
Among his many volunteer efforts over the years, Hilliard chaired the Florida Fish and Game Commission, was president of the Florida Land Council, chaired the Florida Sugar Cane League and was president of the Florida Cattlemen's Association.
To educate future generations, Hilliard funded the Joe Marlin Hilliard Endowed Scholarship at the King Ranch Institute of Ranch Management at Texas A&M University and the Joe Marlin and Barbara Hilliard Scholarship at Florida Gulf Coast University, among others.
Hilliard Brothers of Florida remains a family operation
His farming legacy will continue. Hilliard Brothers of Florida remains a family operation, and his two sons, Joe Marlin II, Bryan, and his daughter Mary Elizabeth remain directly involved in different aspects of the business.
Predeceased by parents Joe A. and “Tippy” Hilliard, Joe Marlin Hilliard is survived by his wife of 37 years, Barbara, his children, Joe Marlin Hilliard II (Chelsa), Mary E Hilliard Carroll, and Bryan Reed Hilliard, stepson Richard Parker and stepdaughter Alicia Snyder, and grandchildren Rana Hilliard, Joe A. “Jack” Hilliard II, Madeline Carroll, Lily Carroll, Isabelle Hilliard, Bryan Reed Hilliard II, Isla Hilliard and Jessica Snyder.
Visitation will be held at Hodges Funeral Home in Naples on Friday from 1-2 p.m. Services will directly follow. Internment will take place after the service at Hodges Funeral Home at Naples Memorial Gardens. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Shriners Hospitals for Children.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Remembering south Florida agricultural pioneer Joe Hilliard
