USA: Florida's struggling citrus industry appears to be recovering

United States

Sustainability & Environmental Impact

Market & Price Trends

Published Dec 23, 2023

Tridge summary

The USDA revised its estimate for the 2023-2024 Florida citrus growing season, projecting increases in grapefruit, tangerine, and tangelo production. Although the forecast for oranges remained unchanged, the combined estimates are nearly 30 percent higher than the previous season, which was impacted by Hurricane Ian and a winter freeze. Despite signs of recovery, the expected total harvest for 2023-2024 remains only slightly above half of the 2021-2022 season, closer to the harvest levels of the 1930s than the 1990s.

Disclaimer: The above summary was generated by a state-of-the-art LLM model and is intended for informational purposes only. It is recommended that readers refer to the original article for more context.

Original content

Florida's struggling citrus industry appears to be showing signs of recovery; last week, the USDA revised an estimate for the 2023-2024 citrus growing season by increasing projections for grapefruit, tangerines and tangelos. The forecast for oranges remained unchanged from the first forecast of the season in October. The combined estimates are nearly 30 percent ahead of last season's harvest, which was hit by Hurricane Ian and a winter freeze. However, the expected total harvest for 2023-2024 is only slightly above half of what was grown in the 2021-2022 season. In addition, the estimated total harvest remains closer to that of the 1930s than that of the 1990s, before citrus greening began to ravage orchards. The new forecast said the industry remains on track to fill 20.5 ...

Source: AGF