Despite some industry challenges, Casey Creamer, president of Exeter-based California Citrus Mutual, is upbeat about California’s 2025-26 citrus season.
“We’ve got a high-quality product that’s in demand,” he says. “Comparatively speaking, with all the other commodities in California and across the country, I’m optimistic about where we sit.”
Creamer cited depressed prices in the lemon market as one obstacle the industry faces, but he says, “I remain optimistic that the citrus industry in California will make it through the storms that we’re always dealing with.
“We’re always battling to keep growers sustainable,” he adds. “I think there’s a lot of positivity and excitement having high-quality California citrus.”
He estimates that about 2,500 citrus growers work in California.
Although huanglongbing (also known as HLB or citrus greening disease) is another “significant concern for the industry,” the disease has not yet reached commercial groves as far as can be determined, he says.
However, quarantines in some residential tracts have gotten closer to commercial production areas.
“We have a significant program in place to do everything we can to control the (Asian citrus) psyllid and manage the disease and keep it out of the commercial groves,” Creamer said.
Finally, despite some activity by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the Ventura area early this year, there’s been no long-term impact on California’s citrus industry from the presence of ICE, Creamer says.
“It’s something that we’re watching very closely, but right now, there are no reports of any major activities,” he says.
