Florida’s citrus acreage tumbled again in 2026, but the state’s citrus production increased in the 2025–26 season, according to two recent U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service reports.
LAND LOSS
Results of the 2026 Commercial Citrus Inventory show total citrus acreage is 165,359 acres, down 21% from the 2025 annual survey.
New plantings, at 5,200 acres, are down from the previous season. The net loss for all citrus acreage is 42,827 acres.
All 23 published counties showed decreases in acreage. Polk County lost the most, down 10,944 acres from the previous season but still leads in citrus acreage with 37,529. Polk is followed by Highlands County at 34,671 total acres.
Orange acreage is now 143,650 acres, down 22% from the previous season. Valencia acreage now accounts for 67% of the total orange acreage, non-Valencia acreage represents 31%, and the remaining orange acreage is unidentified.
Grapefruit is now at 11,456 acres, down 10% from the previous season.
Specialty fruit, at 10,253 acres, is down 11% from the previous season. Tangerines and tangelos account for 47% of the specialty fruit, with 4,813 acres. The remaining acreage is other citrus, with a total of 5,440 acres.
POSITIVE PRODUCTION
Florida’s total citrus production in 2025–26 is 15.7 million boxes, up 7% from the previous season’s 14.7 million boxes.
Total orange production increased 5% to 13 million boxes. Non-Valencia production, at 4.77 million boxes, is up 4% from the 2024–25 season. Valencia orange production, at 8.18 million boxes, increased 7%.
Grapefruit production increased 4% to 1.35 million boxes.
Tangerine and tangelo production in 2025–26 is up 15% from the previous season.
Lemon production was 34% higher than the 2024–25 season.
The top five citrus-producing counties were:
- Polk (3.27 million boxes)
- Highlands (3.07 million boxes)
- Desoto (1.66 million boxes)
- St. Lucie (1.4 million boxes)
- Hardee (1.31 million boxes).
Together these five counties account for 73% of the state’s total citrus production. Oranges constituted 88% of the citrus production, grapefruit accounted for 9% and tangerines and tangelos represented 3%.
Get more information on Florida production, price per box and production by county in the 2025-26 Citrus Summary report.
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