Alico Citrus in Florida harvested 3.1 million boxes of oranges for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, an increase of 14.7% from the prior year. That’s slightly higher than the 13.5% increase for the Florida citrus industry as a whole.
HARVEST AND PRICES
Alico harvested 1.194 million boxes of early- and mid-season oranges for juice in the recent fiscal year, an increase of 22% from the prior year. It harvested 1.855 million boxes of Valencia oranges for juice, an 11% increase. Additionally, the company harvested 35,000 boxes of oranges for the fresh fruit market.
Alico reported its average realized price per pound solids (PPS) rose from $2.70 in the prior fiscal year to $2.81 in fiscal year 2024. It attributed the increased PPS to more favorable pricing in one of its contracts with Tropicana. The company stated that it anticipates higher pricing in the upcoming 2024–25 harvest season because of a new citrus supply contract with Tropicana that was signed earlier this year.
HURRICANE IMPACTS
“Since 2022, Alico has continued to face challenges in recovering from the aftermath of Hurricane Ian,” said Alico President and CEO John Kiernan. “More than half of our crops dropped before harvesting in fiscal year 2023, and fiscal year 2024 fruit production did not return to pre-Ian levels. These lower levels of production remain a concern to management as we begin to harvest the 2024–25 crops.”
Kiernan said Hurricane Milton on Oct. 9, 2024, “impacted most of our citrus groves with sustained hurricane or tropical storm force winds for varying durations of time. The company believes that our groves sustained minimal tree damage. However, there was measurable fruit drop from trees in our northern groves, particularly in Polk and Hardee counties. At this time, it is not possible to reliably estimate the amount of additional fruit drop, if any, that may occur as a result of Hurricane Milton.”
OXYTETRACYCLINE INJECTION
Kiernan said Alico treated nearly all of its producing trees with an oxytetracycline (OTC) injection in 2024 to combat HLB. Approximately 35% of the trees have now been treated for a second time.
“We have and will continue to apply to the Florida Citrus Research and Field Trial Foundation for grant monies to offset the costs of these OTC injections,” Kiernan said. “In January of 2024, we received grants that covered substantially all of the OTC-application costs incurred in fiscal year 2023, and to date, we have received approximately 35% of the money spent during fiscal year 2024. We have applications pending that would cover the rest of our fiscal year 2024 treatment costs.”
Alico owns approximately 53,371 acres of land across eight counties in Florida.
Source: Alico
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