ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A significant grower stated this week it was abandoning its citrus rising operations, reflecting the headwinds Florida’s signature crops are dealing with following a sequence of hurricanes and tree ailments.
Alico Inc. introduced Monday that it deliberate to wind down its citrus operations after the present crop is harvested later this yr. About 3,400 citrus acres (1,376 hectares) can be managed by third-party caretakers for an additional season via 2026.
The Fort Myers-based firm owns 53,371 acres (21,598.5 hectares) throughout eight counties in Florida and 48,700 acres (19,708 hectares) of oil, gasoline and mineral rights within the state. A few quarter of its land holdings will now be slotted for doubtlessly growing business or residential tasks within the close to and long run future, the corporate stated in a information launch.
The corporate stated its citrus manufacturing had declined by 73% over the previous decade. The influence of Hurricanes Irma in 2017,Ian in 2022 and Milton in 2024 on bushes already weakened from years of citrus greening illness “has led Alico to conclude that rising citrus is now not economically viable for us in Florida,” stated John Kiernan, Alico’s president and CEO.
Alico anticipated to scale back its workforce by as much as 172 staff and has notified juice producer Tropicana about its determination, in keeping with a U.S. Securities and Trade Fee submitting.
Florida’s citrus manufacturing has been declining for the previous 20 years due to citrus illness and a few growers have been in search of different makes use of of their land.
Final month, agriculture officers stated Florida’s orange manufacturing forecast for the 2024-2025 season had dropped 20% from the earlier one in October, reflecting injury from Hurricane Milton. If the 12 million-box prediction holds, it will likely be 33% lower than final season’s last manufacturing.
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