Mass of ripe citrus fruits oranges in metal container and working conveyor — Courtesy: Shutterstock — Tanya Kalian
Due to previous hurricanes that affected Florida orange production at farms throughout the state, oranges are becoming more difficult to find.
The citrus season in the state, which typically lasts from October to June, is expected to be worse than it was the previous year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The USDA projects that 12 million 90-pound cartons of oranges will be produced in Florida between 2024 and 2025. Compared to the 17.96 million boxes manufactured during the 2023–2024 season, that quantity is down by about six million.
Al’s Family Farms general manager Matthew Schorner reported that tornadoes hit his farm during Hurricane Milton in October.
There were perhaps twenty tornadoes. Schorner remarked, “I don’t know how many appeared in that enormous black cloud.”
For almost 50 years, Al’s Family Farms has been distributing citrus all across the nation. Before Hurricane Milton, they stored fruit in a packaging building that had withstood other hurricanes.
“It’s amazing to see how many hurricanes this building endured, and then it was all just crushed,” Schorner stated. “When I saw it, I was astounded. I am in tears because I find it hard to believe. How will I proceed? I felt compelled to ask God to rebuild when I calmed down and prayed.
The farm was able to resume packing fruit in their building around two weeks following the storm.
Schorner added that the peach orchard had some trees taken out of the ground when it was struck by a tornado, and that the hurricane damaged some of the farm’s trees and caused them to lose some of their produce.
As they recover, they have been depending on industry friendships and connections to support them.
Growers, pickers, packers, and shippers are always us. Throughout the entire procedure, we are present. We might not be able to do all of the job, but we can still accomplish it with the help of friends, family, and other companies that collaborate with us,” Schorner stated.
According to Jeff Schorner, the owner of the farm, one of their busiest seasons is the holiday season.
“Our main season is this one. Jeff stated, “We have roughly six weeks of ‘let’s go, go, go’ packing fruit for Christmas.” “We’re a winter business, this is when all the tourists come to see us, so we had to get it up and running.”
It can take some time for farms to return to normal, according to Matt Joyner, CEO of Florida Citrus Mutual.
Tree crops are what these are. It often takes them three years to return to pre-storm productivity; they don’t recover in a year. The fact that so many hurricanes have struck in the past seven years has an effect on producers since they don’t have time for those groves to heal for trees to resume producing at their best, Joyner said.
According to Joyner, a poor citrus season may also result in increased citrus product prices.
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Melissa’s career in writing started more than 20 years ago. Today, she lives in South Florida with her husband and two boys.
