Florida citrus volume will be down this season compared to last year because of some major hurricanes and storms. Exactly how much of a drop there will be remains to be seen.
Category 3 Hurricane Milton, which made landfall in Florida on Oct. 10, passed through nearly 70% of the state’s most productive citrus counties, said Matt Joyner, executive vice president and CEO of Bartow-based Florida Citrus Mutual.
“The timing of the storm just before harvest made the fruit highly susceptible to the strong winds, causing substantial fruit drop and damaging trees,” he said.
During the 2023-24 season, Florida’s citrus growers produced 17.97 million boxes of oranges, 1.79 million boxes of grapefruit and 450,000 boxes of tangelos and tangerines for a total of about 20.2 million boxes — an increase from 15.85 million boxes during the 2022-23 season, according to Citrus Mutual.
USDA’s first crop estimate of the 2024-25 harvest season released Oct. 11 forecast 15 million boxes of oranges, 1.4 million boxes of grapefruit and 400,000 boxes of tangerines and tangelos — a total of 16.8 million boxes. However, the estimate was released before Hurricane Milton made landfall. Future forecasts are expected to reflect a reduction in production.
Hurricanes Debbie, Helene and Milton had struck central Florida as of mid-November, but the biggest impact came from Hurricane Milton, said Steven Callaham, CEO of the 100-year-old Dundee Citrus Growers Association, Dundee, Fla., parent company of Florida Classic Growers Inc., which also handles U.S. and Canadian marketing for Riverfront Packing, Vero Beach, Fla.
“Milton put quite a bit of fruit on the ground, tipped some trees over and did some damage to our packinghouse,” he said.
Some groves with navel oranges and hamlin juice oranges lost more than half their crop, but things could have been worse, Callaham said.
“We still have fruit, and we’re running pretty steady right now,” he said in mid-November.
Fortunately, the company has a fair amount of citrus under protective screens that protected against fruit drop.
“We definitely had screen damage, but the fruit itself came through very, very good,” he said. “We’re very pleased with the quality this year.”
Feek Family Citrus and DLF Packing in Fort Pierce, Fla., were fairly lucky, said Jordan Feek, director of marketing.
The company lost 20% to 30% of its fall crop, mostly navel oranges, but did not experience any storm damage to its packinghouse, she said. “We didn’t even lose power, and all of our employees were safe.”
The company’s main crop of valencia oranges should start after the holidays and will ship from storage into July.
The firm is finished building a new cooler and should have new offices ready sometime in December, Feek said. The new facility occupies 35,000 square feet and will be an addition to its existing packinghouse.
“This is the first year we’re having cold storage at our new packing facility,” she said.
Florida’s citrus growers continue to deal with the challenge of citrus greening disease, also known as HLB or Huanglongbing.
“Citrus greening remains a challenge for our industry, but we are making significant progress in managing the disease,” Joyner said.
“Ongoing research has led to promising developments, including new cutting-edge treatments and disease-resistant citrus varieties that are showing real promise to improve tree health,” he added.
Before the storms descended on the state this fall, “growers were beginning to see signs of tree health that they hope will translate into increased productivity in the future,” he said.
Many companies, including Florida Classic Growers, use individual protective covers, called IPCs, and CUPS — citrus under protective screens — to combat the Asian citrus psyllids that spread the disease, Callaham said.
“With some of the new therapies we have in our toolbox now, I think we’re very optimistic about what the future holds for our outdoor groves and our CUP groves,” he said.
Feek Family Citrus is “doing OK” with citrus greening, Feek said. “Our crop seems to be handling it pretty well.”
There is definitely a big push in the industry to work to combat greening, she said. The company plans to do some replanting in certain groves and will install protective netting to keep out psyllids, she said.
Despite disease and hurricanes, Florida citrus remains an excellent choice, Joyner said.
“Florida citrus is known worldwide for its exceptional quality and flavor, and the state’s ideal climate and nutrient-rich soils give Florida citrus a distinctive taste,” he said.
“The Florida citrus industry is also at the forefront of innovation, adopting technologies and sustainable practices to improve production efficiency while also maintaining the highest quality,” he added.
