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 …
Florida Citrus Forecasts Tumble
Federal forecasts for Florida citrus production tumbled Dec. 10, led by a 20% decrease in oranges compared to the initial October forecast. The declines primarily reflect damage from Hurricane Milton, which was not accounted for in the initial forecast. The 2024–25 season forecasts for all other citrus-producing states were unchanged from October. The Dec. 10 Florida forecasts by variety are …
Brazil Releases Update to Orange Forecast
Fundecitrus and its cooperators released a second update to the 2024–25 orange crop forecast for Brazil’s São Paulo and West-Southwest Minas Gerais Citrus Belt. The Dec. 10 projection is 223.14 million 90-pound boxes. That’s an increase of 3.4% from September’s update but a 4% decrease from the initial May forecast of 232.38 million boxes. The forecast by orange variety, with …
Improved Method for Evaluation of Canopy Density
The American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) journal HortScience recently published an article that describes a simple, low-cost method for accurate canopy evaluation of citrus. The authors are Taylor Livingston, Amit Levy and Tripti Vashisth of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Citrus Research and Education Center. A summary of the article follows. Citrus cultivation presents …
Grower Meeting Features Trunk-Injection Results and Hurricane Relief
Florida Citrus Mutual hosted a grower informational meeting on Nov. 13 at Kenny and Cookie Sanders’ Grove House in Zolfo Springs. About 80 citrus growers gathered for the event to hear more about the latest research on trunk-injection therapy and discuss recovery efforts after Hurricane Milton. Ute Albrecht, associate professor of plant physiology with the University of Florida Institute of …
Increased Yields Are Significant Return on Investment
Sponsored Content In this special series, Tom Johnson, owner of TJ BioTech, tackles questions about optimizing trunk-injection applications to treat HLB. Q: How is ReMedium TI® performing in the fight against citrus greening? Tom Johnson: The reported overall performance of ReMedium TI® has been stellar over the last two years. The reports from the second year of injections are just …
Australian Lime Interstocks to Combat HLB
By Ozgur Batuman, Sanju Kunwar and Ana Redondo In a promising effort to protect citrus from huanglongbing (HLB), University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) researchers are exploring the potential of Australian lime as an interstock graft for Valencia scions with Swingle rootstock. The interstock technique uses various limes, known for their natural HLB-tolerant peptides, between the …
The Florida Citrus Perfect Storm: Disease, Weather and Market Swings
By Ariel Singerman Orange yield in Florida has decreased by more than 80% since HLB was first found in the state in 2005. It is hard to find another example in recent history of an industry as iconic as Florida citrus that has declined so significantly as a consequence of a plant disease. As a comparison, at the global level, …
Update on Orange Juice Processing in São Paulo
Orange juice processing for the 2024–25 season was moving at a good pace in Brazil’s São Paulo state at the end of September, the Center for Advanced Studies on Applied Economics (CEPEA) at the University of São Paulo reported. The Pera orange has been the most processed variety so far, but the harvesting and processing pace of late fruit such …
Hurricane Milton: Spotty Citrus Damage, Some Severe
A few themes are unfolding as Florida’s citrus industry begins to assess Hurricane Milton’s damage. First, it could have been worse. The overall citrus losses do not appear to be as bad as those incurred from Hurricane Ian in 2022. Second, the hurricane affected nearly the entire Florida Citrus Belt, but damage varies greatly depending on the specific area. Reports …
CITRUS NURSERY SOURCE: Tree Propagations Provide Insight on Plantings
By Peter Chaires The summer of 2024 has been one of suspense, hope and anticipation. There is great suspense in learning how many acres will remain in citrus production, be repurposed or worse yet, be developed. There is a great sense of hope that Mother Nature will provide ideal growing conditions for the crop, and natural disaster recovery will not …
Bleak Outlook for Florida Citrus Production
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Statistics Board released its first forecast of the 2024–25 citrus season on Oct. 11. The report does not reflect the damage to the Florida citrus industry inflicted by Hurricane Milton. The Dec. 10 forecast update is expected to take that damage into account. “The forecast for the season is extremely discouraging,” said Matt Joyner, …
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Optimizing OTC Injections
By Ute Albrecht, Caroline Tardivo, Larissa Nunes, Gabriel Pugina, Gerardo Moreno and Jasmine de Freitas As growers are well into the second year of oxytetracycline (OTC) injections since approval for commercial use, more and more data are accumulating. The good news is that in all University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) trials, trees have been responding …
Tree Age and Trunk-Injection Effectiveness
Sponsored Content In this special series, Tom Johnson, owner of TJ BioTech, tackles questions about optimizing trunk-injection applications to treat HLB. Question: It is known that ReMedium TI® is working to fight HLB in young trees. Are ReMedium TI® injections proving to be effective in older citrus trees? Answer: ReMedium TI® is indeed effective in older citrus trees. The caution …
Florida Citrus Gained Ground in 2023–24
The value and production of Florida citrus both rose in the 2023–24 season. The $221 million preliminary on-tree value of the 2023–24 crop is 6% more than the $208 million revised value for 2022–23. All citrus production in 2023–24 is 20.2 million boxes, up 12% from the previous season’s 18.1 million boxes. The figures were reported in the 2023–24 Citrus …
Frequent Irrigation Benefits HLB-Infected Sweet Orange Trees
By Tripti Vashisth and Mary Sutton Citrus trees affected by huanglongbing (HLB) show significant root dieback. This dieback results in smaller root systems than would be seen in healthy citrus trees. These small root systems are limited in their uptake capacity. In other words, if an HLB-affected tree is given the same amount of water as a healthy tree, the …
Tree Age and Yields: Implications for Trunk Injection
By Ariel Singerman This article examines the impact of HLB and other factors on yield by tree age group in Florida using U.S. Department of Agriculture statewide average data from 1994 to 2021. To focus on the impact of HLB and other relevant lasting factors, seasons in which there were hurricanes or freezes are excluded. YIELD REDUCTIONS Figures 1 and …
Brazil’s Orange Forecast Falls Further
Fundecitrus and its cooperators issued the first update to Brazil’s 2024–25 orange crop forecast on Sept. 10. The forecast of 215.78 million boxes for the São Paulo and West-Southwest Minas Gerais Citrus Belt is down 7.1% from the initial May forecast of 232.38 million boxes. With a total reduction of 16.6 million boxes, all varieties are expected to have lower …
The Best Defense for Mitigating Preharvest Fruit Drop
By Tripti Vashisth Over the past decade, HLB-associated fruit drop has become a significant problem in Florida groves. Many growers opt to harvest the fruit before the peak fruit drop begins. However, the downside to this strategy is that the fruit does not get enough time for optimal Brix accumulation. Plant growth regulators, when applied at the right time, can …
Seeking Early-Season Sweet Oranges
HLB has reduced citrus production across the board, but early varieties like Hamlin have taken an even bigger hit. Hamlin has been plagued by the disease and fruit drop, which has left a void in the juice-processing segment in the early season. Growers who have been replanting have mostly relied on later-season varieties like Valencia because it seems to be …




























