citrus crop

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.

A cloud cover helped protect citrus trees in areas where the thermometer hovered around or below freezing.

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.

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.

An initial forecast for the growing season showed overall citrus production down a projected 31.8 percent from the past season. That came out before Hurricane Ian damaged crops.

While an initial forecast for the season was for 51.7 million 90-pound boxes of oranges — the lowest output since the 1941-1942 season. The current estimate is for 44.75 million boxes — lowest since the 1939-1940 season.

Florida growers have struggled for years against residential and commercial development, foreign imports, changes in beverage consumption habits and, since 2005, citrus greening, an incurable bacterial disease.

The citrus season runs from October through June.

While 2020 was bad for many businesses, it was an exceptionally good year for Florida citrus growers. The industry wants to keep that momentum going.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday forecast a 15 percent decline in orange production for the recently started growing season as compared to the last harvest