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Florida citrus growers hoping for comeback in 2025

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Published  December 23, 2024 3:04pm EST
Florida
FOX 13 News

Citrus farmers call for increased state-aid

FOX 13's Chief Political Investigator reports on Florida's citrus farms, which produced the smallest crop of citrus products in 2024, as they battled long-term trends and double hurricanes in the state.

The Brief

    • Florida's citrus industry has battled a range of bacterial diseases, including ‘citrus canker’ and ‘citrus greening,’ as well as multiple hurricanes.
    • This year's crops were knocked down to historically low levels.
    • Florida lawmakers are promising help ahead of the 2025 legislative session.

TAMPA, Fla. - For decades, Florida growers provided most of the nation's orange and grapefruit juice, producing up to 70% of America's citrus production.

Then came a bacterial disease called "citrus canker," a wave of hurricanes in 2004, another disease called "citrus greening," and more hurricanes in 2024. The USDA said Hurricane Milton reduced Florida's citrus crop to its lowest level in more than a century. 

It was a real blow to growers, who started out the year with a striking comeback, according to Florida Citrus Mutual President Matt Joyner. 

READ: Milton farm losses could top $600M

"Our trees, because of some of the new therapies that are being deployed, the tree health is looking really good. We have one of the most consistent blooms that we have seen in a lot of years", said Joyner in June 2024, prior to Hurricane Milton.

With this year's crop knocked down to historically low levels, state lawmakers are promising help. Senate President Ben Albritton, a citrus grower himself, kicked off his tenure by assuring his fellow growers that they'll get the support needed to rebound yet again. 

"Farm families always have and continue to play an important role in our state", said Albritton.  "They serve all of Florida’s families, protect our environment, strengthen our national security, and importantly, they feed the nation and our state." 

He said the goal is to help growers recover from the storms, find new ways to protect the fruit from disease, and grow larger harvests – with smaller amounts of fertilizer, pesticide and water. They'll get the ball rolling with $47 million budgeted for the citrus industry – with nearly $18 million for research.  

And as leadership calls for spending cuts on other programs, they may commit even more to Florida citrus during the 2025 legislative session, which begins in March.

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