The housing slump and economic downturn have taken the itch off Alico Inc.’s plans to develop much of its 136,000 rural acres in South Florida.

The citrus and cattle behemoth announced this week that it will "maintain its focus on its agriculture operations" and "delay any material effort to expand into income producing real estate."

To solidify its change of focus, Alico replaced president and chief executive Dan Gunter, a development proponent, with Steven M. Smith, Alico’s former head of agricultural operations.

Alico, with land in Collier, Glades, Hendry, Lee and Polk counties, took shape under the leadership of Florida land baron Ben Hill Griffin Jr., until his death one of the world’s richest men.

His descendents planned to cash in much of the land for development until the recent downturn forced them to defer those ambitions. (One of his Griffin's granddaughters is Katherine Harris, former Florida Secretary of State and ex-Congresswoman from Sarasota)

One of the most shocking maps I've seen in recent years was a projection of what South-Central Florida would look like in a couple of decades. Splotches of homes, tens of thousands of them, blanketed what now is orange groves, swamps and cattle pasture. It was all split by a new super highway running somewhere between Fort Myers and Lake Okeechobee.

That all might still happen, but the fast track now looks rutted enough to swallow a wagon wheel.