By Paul Waldmiller
Did you know that Hurricane Ian did significant damage to Florida’s orange trees and crops?
According to a report last Wednesday given by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the 2022-2023 growing season is showing overall citrus production down a projected 31.8% from the past season. That would be the lowest production since the 1935-1936 growing season based on Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services statistics.
According to Matt Joyner, CEO of Florida Citrus Mutual, Hurricane Ian lowered production numbers. “The storm went through a lot of the heaviest citrus producing counties in the state.”
Also, according to data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, many of the citrus districts within Florida were in Ian’s path. The USDA is expected to release their next updated report regarding damages to our citrus industry on December 9th.
Shannon Shepp who is the Executive Director of the Florida Department of Citrus stated that “Hurricane Ian hit Florida citrus growers on many levels – their groves, their homes, their communities – all in the past of destruction.”
With so much damage done to orange and grapefruit trees, we can all expect prices of citrus fruit to steadily rise over the coming months.