The crisis in orange production is deepening

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 01. 27. 10:52

Orange production in Florida has hit a new low as the industry faces mounting climate and health challenges. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) predicts that this year’s orange crop will be 90% lower than it was 30 years ago. The once-thriving industry is being ravaged by disease and extreme weather, writes Agrarszektor.

The biggest threat: citrus greening

Citrus greening, an incurable disease spread by tree-dwelling aphids, remains the industry’s biggest problem. The infection causes trees to produce fewer fruits and then die within a few years. Michael Rogers, an expert at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, says the disease is spreading at a rate that science is currently unable to address.

Kyle Story, a fourth-generation grower, said the industry may never reach pre-2012 production levels due to the effects of greening and hurricanes. The situation is further exacerbated by increasingly frequent and intense storms, which can take up to three years for plantations to recover.

Economic hardship and retreating players

Florida’s citrus acreage has declined dramatically, from 235,000 acres in 2012 to more than half now. Alico Inc., one of the state’s largest producers, recently announced it would stop growing citrus because it was no longer economically viable. Smaller growers, however, are persevering, employing strategies such as insect screens, antimicrobial sprays and regular crop inspections. These methods, however, are becoming increasingly expensive as yields decline.