‘We are forging a path for many more highly productive years to come.’
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The citrus harvest this year exceeded expectations across Florida.
The Florida Department of Citrus announced this month that citrus production increased across all varieties for the 2025-26 crop year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s figures show that 12.92 million boxes of oranges were harvested this year. That’s a 5% increase from the previous year.
Other harvests were also up, including grapefruit, which jumped to 1.35 million boxes. For grapefruit, that’s an increase of 50,000 boxes. Tangerines and mandarin oranges also saw a 15% increase to 460,000 boxes combined.
“This is a remarkable exclamation point on another challenging season for Florida citrus,” said Shannon Shepp, Executive Director of the Florida Department of Citrus. “While growers escaped hurricane threats last Fall, the Winter cold created sustained freezing temperatures and subsequent fruit loss.”
Citrus growers are also upbeat about future harvests as Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that the Florida Legislature approved for future citrus investment through the General Appropriations Act, which increases research, planting and promotion of citrus production infrastructure.
“We are on record as historically providing the juiciest, best-tasting citrus in the world for many decades; and we are forging a path for many more highly productive years to come. This moment validates that even in the face of natural challenges, our growers are doing what’s right to preserve and grow the Florida citrus industry,” Shepp said.
Shepp added that citrus growers are optimistic about crop production in the coming years, with state funding approved to help farmers combat the dreaded citrus greening, which has hampered production in Florida for about the past two decades. Millions of dollars in research have already been spent on trying to reduce the impact of greening.
“Failure is simply not an option for Florida citrus, and for Florida’s top policymakers to stand up in such strong support, essentially saying, ‘Not on my watch,’ is an act for which this industry is so humbly grateful,” Shepp said.
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