At the June Florida Citrus Commission meeting, Florida Department of Citrus Director of Economic and Market Research Marisa Zansler presented a strategic overview of the economic case for citrus replanting. Her presentation focused on how targeted investments in grove restoration, supported by aligned Florida-centric marketing and infrastructure protection, can stabilize the industry and position it for long-term viability at a critical time.
Zansler outlined a phased replanting strategy from state funding that would restore approximately 25,625 acres with nearly 4.5 million new orange trees over a three-year period. The model assumes an establishment cost of $4,176 per acre and projects the first meaningful harvests in year 5.
By year 10, full productivity is expected to be reached at an annual output of 7 million boxes from the funding investment. Over the full 20-year outlook of the case study, average annual additional production is estimated at 7.7 million boxes. These projections result in a total estimated net block income of $225.4 million to growers from processed oranges alone over the period.
Zansler highlighted that this analysis assumes a processed juice market focus and incorporates ongoing grower expenses such as caretaking and harvesting, which can reach nearly $2,000 per acre annually. These out-of-pocket costs demonstrate the substantial financial stake growers maintain in the long-term success of the industry.
She also noted that the projection takes a conservative approach to estimating new production from the replantings. Some blocks will have irrigation that supports higher-density plantings, such as 8 x 25 spacing (218 trees per acre), which will boost yields and returns.
The projections only account for processed orange utilization and will be expanded to include the fresh sector for all varieties. In addition, the framework accounts for grower contributions, treating the replanting effort as a shared investment between public and private capital.
Source: Florida Department of Citrus
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