citrus

Production numbers for Florida’s orange crop continue to decline as the citrus industry’s storm-battered season nears an end.

Nearly 20 years after citrus greening appeared in Florida, exhausted farmers and researchers struggle to survive a disease destroying the state’s quintessential crop.

Officials say the Donaldson tree could offer relief to citrus growers across the state whose latest crop was the lowest since World War II.

Fourth-generation Central Florida citrus grower Eddie White has seen urbanization and citrus disease threaten the industry and his way of life, but he honors his heritage by running his family’s grove in new ways.

It's the latest blow to Florida's citrus industry, which has struggled for two decades with deadly citrus-greening disease.

The Florida citrus industry could have its hardest year since the Great Depression after two back-to-back hurricanes this fall.

The move came after the USDA reduced a forecast for Florida orange production by 29 percent, grapefruit production by 10 percent and specialty fruits by 14 percent.

The forecast for the 2022-2023 season would put the industry at roughly half of the production from the 2021-2022 growing season, which itself resulted in decades-low numbers.

Among the topics on this week's Florida Roundup were reaction to the arrests seen on body camera footage of convicted felons who were accused of voter fraud.

Growers in parts of Polk, Highlands, Hardee and DeSoto counties report that Ian claimed from 50 to 90 percent of their citrus crops. Before the storm, the state’s citrus harvest was already expected to be the lowest since 1935.

Before the storm, citrus production was already forecast to drop by a third compared with the year before. Estimated losses could run as much as $304.2 million.

The initial reports aren’t good for an industry that during the 2021-2022 season had its lowest production in eight decades.