TALLAHASSEE — Pointing to Florida’s decades-long fight with deadly citrus greening disease and damage from hurricanes, a major grower Monday announced it will “wind down” citrus operations and focus on more-profitable uses of its land.
Fort Myers-based Alico Inc. said it will not spend additional money on citrus operations after the current crop is harvested. It said about 3,460 acres of its citrus land will be managed by other operators through 2026.
“For over a century, Alico has been proud to be one of Florida’s leading citrus producers and a dedicated steward of its agricultural land, but we must now reluctantly adapt to changing environmental and economic realities,” John Kiernan, Alico’s president and chief executive officer, said in a prepared statement. “Our citrus production has declined approximately 73% over the last 10 years, despite significant investments in land, trees and citrus disease treatments, and the current harvest will likely be lower in volume than the previous season. The impact of Hurricanes Irma in 2017, Ian in 2022 and Milton in 2024 on our trees, already weakened from years of citrus greening disease, has led Alico to conclude that growing citrus is no longer economically viable for us in Florida.”