‘Going to take a number of years’
Florida’s orange harvest is expected to be the lowest since 1930 due to major declines in healthy trees; This affects both farmers and consumers in the United States and Canada.
What’s going on?
Accordingly Insurance MagazineThe state will produce an estimated 12 million boxes of oranges this season — a 2% decrease from last season, according to data from the Department of Agriculture.
Florida’s orange groves have been shrinking since 2000 due to a devastating, incurable bacterial infection called citrus greening disease that kills tree roots and stunts growth. The disease causes the fruits to become smaller, greener and bitter, making them unsellable.
Rapid urban development has also led to the destruction of many orange groves, and damage from severe hurricanes since 2022 (e.g. Ian, Nicole and Milton) has further destroyed trees.
The treatments helped some trees recover, but it wasn’t enough to return yields to previous levels, Insurance Journal reported.
“It’s going to be a process of seeing the overall fruit count increase,” Matt Joyner, CEO of Florida Citrus Mutual, told the news outlet. “It will take several years to increase this number further.”
Why are smaller orange harvests a concern?
Farmers depend on healthy crops to make ends meet, but farmers’ financial woes resulting from poor harvests have caused many to lose their jobs. WUSF. The remaining farmers are frustrated by the lack of research breakthroughs to combat the disease, as well as other losses due to worsening storms and erratic weather conditions.
Food and Wine reported that hurricanes have been particularly severe in the Sunshine State since 2020, reflecting the impact of rising global temperatures on orange yields.
“It can take up to three to five years for a damaged tree to recover from extreme weather (if it survives) and return to peak production,” Marisa Zansler, director of economic and market research for the Florida Department of Citrus, told the magazine.
Smaller harvests often mean more expensive grocery prices; but Insurance Journal reported that orange juice futures fell significantly as Brazil, the world’s largest orange exporter, expected a large increase in production.
Recent cold weather and hurricanes have also caused millions of dollars in losses to vegetable, potato, melon and strawberry farmers in Florida.
What is being done to help orange trees recover?
According to WUSF, Florida lawmakers are working to pass a bill that would reduce the minimum sugar content required for orange juice, the end product of most harvests in the state. Fresh oranges in grocery stores are more likely to come from California, and the USDA predicts there will be high production in the state this year, which will stabilize prices.
Scientists are also experimenting with genetically modified orange trees that may withstand or resist citrus greening. They say this could be the breakthrough the industry needs to survive in the face of rising production costs and increasingly frequent and harsh extreme weather.
Keep tabs open How does climate affect orange harvest? will help you know what to expect at the grocery store and shop smarter.
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