Texas fresh citrus output should be close to last season, says Dale Murden, president of the trade association Texas Citrus Mutual.
Murden said the industry expects to ship about 4.5 million cartons of grapefruit and 2 million cartons of oranges.
South Texas citrus harvest began in October, Murden said. Peak movement of Texas citrus typically runs from November through March in South Texas.
“The [crop] looks to me about the same as last year, which is about 50% of a 20-year average,” Murden said. Growers are taking out older trees and planting younger trees.
“We are probably about half of a good annual average, but we’re getting there, and quality looks very good this year,” he said.
Texas has three major fresh citrus shippers and a couple of smaller players. Fresh shippers Lone Star Citrus and The Wonderful Company also have juice plants, Murden said.
Acreage trends
According to USDA reported numbers, Texas grapefruit-bearing acreage declined from 16,400 acres in 2017 to 10,500 acres in 2023.
Orange-bearing acreage also decreased, from 8,000 acres in 2017 to 5,900 acres in 2023, according to USDA data.
Within oranges, USDA numbers reported mid/navel variety acreage went from 5,800 acres in 2017 to 3,600 acres in 2023.
Valencia orange acreage declined slightly, from 2,200 acres in 2017 to 2,300 acres in 2023, according to USDA numbers.
Growers in South Texas have a “never-ending battle” against real estate development of citrus groves, Murden said.
“Some of the best land in the world is going into concrete, and you’ll never get it back,” he said.
Still, he said some growers in Texas are in the early stages of investing in sophisticated growing technology, including growing citrus under protective screens, called the CUPS method.
The citrus disease Huanglongbing, also known as HLB or citrus greening, is present in Texas, but the industry has been able to “hold its own” against it, Murden said. The effect of HLB is hard to determine against other factors, such as periodic hurricanes and freezes.
One production issue that has the attention of growers, Murden said, is water.
A lingering drought and the absence of water allocations from Mexico for the past three years are troubling, he said. A water treaty from 1944 spells out Mexico’s water commitments to Texas from the Rio Grande River and its tributaries.
“[Mexico] should make annual payments of 350,000 acre feet a year, and they rarely ever do that,” Murden said. “That, combined with a drought, puts us in a tough spot right now.”
Another issue that has Texas growers bothered is the lack of quality inspections on Mexican grapefruit imports.
The USDA has waived inspections for Mexican grapefruit for juice content, and Texas citrus leaders have been working to reverse the USDA’s position for several years.
In 2021, Texas citrus leaders told The Packer that relaxation in standards of maturity for imported grapefruits has given Mexican grapefruit producers a “distinct and unfair advantage” over Texas producers, which will lead to dumping of inferior fruit in Texas and other states.
Imports of Mexican fresh grapefruit in the market year September through August increased from $3.3 million in 2017-18 to $10.6 million in 2021-22. However, imports of Mexican grapefruit dropped to just $2 million in 2022-23.
Market reach
Texas citrus is sold all over the country and as far west as California, Murden said. The USDA has reported average per carton U.S. terminal prices for Texas grapefruit as follows.
2022-23 season:
- Oct. 29: $42.16
- Nov. 29: $38.40
- Dec. 31: $37.89
- Jan. 28: $37.87
- Feb. 25: $33.98
- March 29: $32.75
- April 29: $33.65
- May 27: $29.76
2023-24 season
- Oct. 14: $50.50
- Oct. 21: $47.38
- Oct. 28: $43.5
