Florida's orange juice industry squeezed by disease, hurricanes as orange crop hits 95-year low
March 31 (UPI) -- Florida's orange juice industry is getting squeezed by hurricanes, citrus disease and changing consumer tastes as the state reveals what is expected to be its smallest crop in 95 years.
Florida's crop for the 2024-2025 season is predicted to be the smallest since before World War II, with orange juice consumption plummeting more than 50% since 2000, according to new data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The most recent forecast for the season is 522,000 tons, which is down 35% from last season's total of 808,000 tons due to weather events and ongoing citrus disease.
"Citrus greening is still an existential threat to Florida's orange juice production," according to Bill Castle, Florida citrus expert. "We're losing trees faster than we can replant them."
In October, Hurricane Milton tore through the Florida peninsula and destroyed millions of dollars of prime citrus-producing land. The storm blew fruit off branches and damaged trees.
"Regardless of how this season overall ends up, regardless of what the ultimate loss of fruit is in this season, it'll be a multi-year process for these trees to get back to pre-hurricane production. That's how trees react to stress, and it's very difficult than row crops that you plow under at the end of year," Matt Joyner, executive vice president and chief executive officer of Florida Citrus Mutual, the state's largest citrus growers' trade association, told UPI in October.
Brazilian growers are seeing their citrus production rise this year with improved rainfall since October, which has created more global competition.
While the orange juice industry in the United States faces an uncertain future, citrus prices at grocery stores have started to drop as market forces help to ease pressure.
Overall, juice brands have watched earnings fall with industry leader Tropicana saying it has "experienced depreciation in its value due to the evolving market and declining demand for orange juice."
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