Florida citrus grower to close down operation

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TALLAHASSEE — Pointing to Florida’s decades-long combat with lethal citrus greening illness and harm from hurricanes, a significant grower Monday introduced it’ll “wind down” citrus operations and give attention to more-profitable makes use of of its land.

Fort Myers-based Alico Inc. mentioned it won’t spend further cash on citrus operations after the present crop is harvested. It mentioned about 3,460 acres of its citrus land might be managed by different operators by 2026.

“For over a century, Alico has been proud to be one in every of Florida’s main citrus producers and a devoted steward of its agricultural land, however we should now reluctantly adapt to altering environmental and financial realities,” John Kiernan, Alico’s president and chief government officer, mentioned in a ready assertion. “Our citrus manufacturing has declined roughly 73% during the last 10 years, regardless of important investments in land, bushes and citrus illness therapies, and the present harvest will doubtless be decrease in quantity than the earlier season. The affect of Hurricanes Irma in 2017, Ian in 2022 and Milton in 2024 on our bushes, already weakened from years of citrus greening illness, has led Alico to conclude that rising citrus is now not economically viable for us in Florida.”

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