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Rebounding Citrus Industry Good News For Entire State

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 3, 2007

Florida's citrus industry was just about given up for dead in recent years. Sure, the annual crop brought in $1.4 billion to growers last year. But plagued by hurricanes, freezes, labor shortages, imports, deadly diseases and sky-high land prices that caused landowners to turn groves into subdivisions, the long-term outlook for Florida's most identifiable crop appeared bleak.

Yet despite the odds and expectations, the industry is showing remarkable resilience. And that's good news for those who appreciate the value of Florida's agricultural industry, which provides jobs, furnishes fresh food and preserves rural landscapes.

Growers saw a decline in orange production from 230 million boxes six years ago to 129 million last year, which has meant higher prices for consumers but good times for those who actually had fruit to pick.

This year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts Florida's production will increase to 168 million boxes - a larger crop but not so big growers won't earn a healthy profit.

More good news for the industry: The U.S. International Trade Commission recently released a decision favorable to growers' associations. The commission affirmed a March 2006 ruling that Brazil's top processors of concentrated orange juice sold their juice on the U.S. market at less than fair value, which means U.S. Customs will continue to collect a duty on the imports, thus helping protect Florida's market.

It's great to see the industry on the upswing.

While citrus groves once covered nearly 1 million acres in the state, almost 400,000 acres have been lost to development and other agricultural uses. While Polk County remains the heart of citrus country, urban development has pushed the industry south. The one bright spot in the housing slump may be that growers aren't as disposed to sell as they were when the price per acre approached $50,000.

But even with the good news the industry can't afford to relax. Officials with Florida Citrus Mutual tell us growers' costs are rising. It costs a typical grower $250 to $300 more an acre to deal with citrus canker, and that doesn't include pesticides, they say.

And some $7.5 million is being spent to support 100-plus research projects as growers wage war on citrus greening, another scourge.

Fortunately, the canker outbreak that has bedeviled the state for most of the last decade, particularly in the aftermath of the hurricanes, has been largely contained to the Vero Beach area. The new suppression, rather than eradication, program appears to be working.

So despite formidable obstacles, there is reason for optimism the citrus industry will survive for the foreseeable future, treating Floridians to abundant green space and a taste of sunshine.

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