Florida citrus production was staggered by Hurricanes Ian and Nicole last fall, but those setbacks are temporary, says Steven Callaham, CEO of Dundee Citrus Growers Association, Dundee, Fla.
“We can’t really control the natural disasters; we just have to regroup and look forward beyond that,” Callaham said.
A portion of Florida’s crop was lost to the hurricane, and the USDA’s January production estimate put Florida’s early, midseason, and navel varieties were forecast at 7 million boxes, unchanged from the previous forecast but down 62% from last season’s final utilization.
The USDA said Florida’s valencia orange forecast, at 11 million boxes, is down 15% from the previous forecast and down 52% from last season’s final utilization. The USDA’s Florida grapefruit forecast, at 1.5 million boxes, is down 17% from the previous forecast and down 55% from the last season.
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Callaham said the hurricanes caused some damage to the screen coverings of Citrus Under Protection Screens. The growing method by Dundee Citrus protects the fruit from citrus greening disease by preventing disease-spreading Asian citrus psyllid from entering the structure.
“We were making repairs to the damaged screens within two days of the storm event, and we’re in good shape now,” he said, noting that numerous inspections of the CUPS facilities after the hurricanes failed to find even a single psyllid.
The damage to the screens has been repaired, with the integrity of the CUPS structures intact.
“The trees and the crop on the trees inside of their structures were perfectly fine,” Callaham said. “We still had a volume of nice [grapefruit and mandarins] on the trees that wasn’t touched.”
The volume of Dundee Citrus fresh fruit is expected to run through May, he said.
The reduced crop, logistics issues and unfavorable exchange rates make export markets less attractive this season, Callaham said.
“I would say the majority of the crop is going domestic this year,” he said.
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CUPS method
Dundee Citrus has 400 acres of citrus growing under screen now, and another 500-acre CUPS project is in the process of being constructed over the next couple of years, he said.
By the time that new acreage project is fully developed, the marketer will have more than 900 acres under screen. Two additional projects are in the preliminary stages right now, Callaham said.
“We’re pleased with what we’ve seen, and we are very excited about the quantity and the quality of the fruit that is coming out of our phase one project, which was planted back in 2019,” he said. “We’re excited and moving forward, full steam.”
The company is developing a brand exclusive for its CUPS-grown fruit, and Callaham said that brand will be rolling out at the start of next season. The brand will emphasize the environmentally friendly method of growing fruit under protective screens, a growing method that produces excellent fruit and which Callaham said requires less land and less water than traditional citrus groves.
“We’re proud of proud of that, and we’re going to be able to tell that story when we do the brand launch,” he said.
Callaham said the way Dundee Citrus has positioned its company and its growers is a sustainable long-term play for the Florida citrus growers.
“We will be here for decades,” he said.
