Large Florida citrus grower Alico Citrus will cease operations after the current season’s harvest, parent company Alico, Inc. announced Jan. 6. The company cited increasing financial challenges from citrus greening disease and “environmental factors.”
Alico owns approximately 53,371 acres of land across eight counties in Florida, as well as approximately 48,700 acres of oil, gas and mineral rights in the state.
Alico President and Chief Executive Officer John Kiernan said Alico was one of Florida’s leading citrus producers for more than a century. “We must now reluctantly adapt to changing environmental and economic realities,” he said. “Our citrus production has declined approximately 73% over the last 10 years, despite significant investments in land, trees and citrus disease treatments, and the current harvest will likely be lower in volume than the previous season. The impact of Hurricane Irma in 2017, Ian in 2022 and Milton in 2024 on our trees, already weakened from years of citrus greening disease, has led Alico to conclude that growing citrus is no longer economically viable for us in Florida.”
Winding down Alico Citrus’ primary operations will include reducing most of its citrus production workforce effective immediately. Although the vast majority of citrus operations will end this year, Alico expects that approximately 3,460 citrus acres will be managed by third-party caretakers for another season, through 2026.
“We’ve explored all available options to restore our citrus operations to profitability, but the long-term production trend and the cost needed to combat citrus greening disease no longer supports our expectations for a recovery,” Kiernan concluded.
Alico stated that it estimates approximately 75% of its current land holdings are likely to remain agriculturally focused for the foreseeable future. It also expects that approximately 25% of its land holdings have near-and long-term potential for commercial and residential development. Approximately 10% of its acres are targeted for development within the next five years.
Alico estimated that the value of its landholdings could be worth approximately $650 million to $750 million.
See Alico’s full statement regarding the cessation of citrus operations here.
Source: Alico, Inc.
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