Alico, Inc.’s Citrus Division reported it had “significantly lower than anticipated” early and mid-season orange production for the fiscal quarter that ended Dec. 31, 2023. It blamed the reduction on the ongoing effects of 2022’s Hurricane Ian.
Although the early and mid-season crops were lower than anticipated, Alico still harvested more boxes, produced more pound solids and received higher prices than in the same quarter a year earlier. It did, however, produce fewer pound solids per box in 2023 than in 2022.
Early and mid-season orange comparisons for the same periods in 2023 versus 2022 are:
- Boxes harvested: 1.047 million vs. 805,000, a 30.1% increase
- Pound solids produced: 4.666 million vs. 3.737 million, a 24.9% increase
- Price per pound solids: $2.66 vs. $2.57, a 3.4% increase as a result of more favorable pricing in one of Alico’s contracts with Tropicana
- Pound solids per box: $4.46 vs. 4.64, a 4% decrease
“Our fruit production for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2022 was adversely impacted by the fruit drop caused as a result of the impact of Hurricane Ian in September 2022,” Alico stated. “Although Hurricane Ian initially impacted the fiscal year 2023 harvest, we expect it may take another season, or more, for the groves to recover to pre-hurricane production levels.”
“Results from our early and mid-season harvest this season were disappointing,” Alico President and Chief Executive Officer John Kiernan said. “We are cautiously optimistic that our Valencia crop, which we will begin harvesting soon, will show a stronger rate of recovery.”
Kiernan reported that the company received Citrus Research and Field Trial Foundation funding in January 2024 to support its use of oxytetracycline (OTC) to combat the effect of HLB in trees. “Last year, beginning in January 2023, over 35% of our producing trees were treated with an OTC trunk injection, with the expectation that it would improve fruit quality and decrease the rate of fruit drop,” Kiernan said. “We expect that the full extent of the benefits of these prior year OTC treatments will not be measurable until the full 2023–24 harvest is completed.”
See Alico’s report on its quarterly results here.
Source: Alico, Inc.
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