By Peter Chaires
Coincidentally, or perhaps ironically, Spencer Johnson’s famous book “Who Moved My Cheese?” was published in 1998, the same year the Asian citrus psyllid arrived in Florida. This was seven years before the first detection of HLB. Had he postponed his book for a few years, Florida’s citrus industry could have been a live laboratory in the study of fear, change, anticipation, innovation and response. Surviving Florida citrus growers and nurseries have certainly demonstrated proficiency to anticipate, embrace and respond to changes that are often out of their control.
As I have worked with the New Varieties Development & Management Corp. (NVDMC) leadership, as well as University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) and U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service breeding teams in preparation for the 2026–27 season, structured change is front and center. Practices employed by today’s successful citrus grower in no way resemble conventional practices of previous generations, much less those used five years ago. The best ideas from growers, nurseries, suppliers and scientists are quickly and readily adopted to achieve incremental improvements.
This is also true of those working in research and marketing. As we have seen pendulum shifts between fresh and processed markets as a dominant point of focus, there are also shifts within each segment. This perspective was hammered home when I recently attended the annual meeting of the Cold Hardy Citrus Growers Association, held at the North Florida Research and Education Center in Marianna.
COLD-HARDY REGION RESILIENCY
Growers in the border counties are an incredibly resilient group. Many of the groves that experienced devastating temperatures last winter appear as if nothing ever happened. Groves that were adequately conditioned by early cold snaps seem to have fared better than groves 100 miles south that had not experienced conditioning cold in advance of the freeze. Overall, northern groves have recovered well, and conversations among growers are more market-focused than survival focused. They are asking: What should I plant? What markets are mature or saturated? What opportunities lie ahead?
Growers in the border counties have certainly proven capable of producing quality grapefruit. Even these trees survived the winter. Those with grapefruit face market-related decisions as larger quantities of good-quality grapefruit will be coming online down south. Satsuma growers are holding their own, but there was certainly not much conversation about expansion. Some contraction is likely.
Trials at the University of Georgia and UF/IFAS are starting to provide data about previously released specialty varieties. This work will inform northern growers which varieties may be best suited to colder production regions with currently less disease pressure. Growers are certainly interested in options for future plantings.
BEYOND THE COMMODITY MARKET
Part of the annual meeting’s program focused on marketing. Citrus grower Quentin Roe gave an excellent presentation on lifting one’s offering out of the commodity market. He provided a range of suggestions, from branding, to packaging, to messaging to variety selection. If you are growing something that is “best in class,” it must be supported with superior production, packing and post-harvest, packaging, marketing, delivery and service.
Roe has a great deal of experience in this arena, and his remarks certainly challenged the status quo. It was a tough message for some, but an important perspective. He also mentioned how growers wishing to exclusively focus on the production side can contract-grow for other packers and marketers with pre-established brands and a solid footing with retailers.
While some growers were considering varieties and marketing approaches that might lift them out of the commodity market, others were focusing on currently developed mature commodity markets with strong demand and short supply. Navel oranges rose to the top of the conversation. Though some growers in Florida’s main production area are making progress with injection treatments on navels, border county navels have a distinct advantage. They achieve California-like color with traditional Florida size and juice content. The icing on the cake is lower transportation costs to the prime East Coast markets. As border county growers consider their next move, there certainly appears to be opportunity in the fresh orange market.
Peter Chaires is executive director of NVDMC.
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