Florida's citrus industry is expected to close out the 2025-26 growing season with production beating initial estimates, despite a season of weather extremes across the state.
Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture showed orange production was about 5% higher than the 2024-25 season, while grapefruit production saw an increase of about 4%.
The increased production estimates come after a difficult growing season for Florida farmers that included an Arctic plunge during the first months of the year and drought conditions not seen in more than two decades.
According to NOAA, hard freezes during January resulted in an estimated $3 billion in damage to crops and infrastructure, which included significant losses to strawberry, blueberry and sugarcane production.
"Research, innovation and the perseverance of growers continue to move Florida's citrus production in the right direction, despite impacts from this year’s historic freezes and continued recovery from citrus greening and hurricanes," Florida Citrus Mutual, the state's largest citrus growers association, said in a statement.
An intensifying El Niño event over the Pacific is likely to add to the uncertainties as growers begin preparations for the next growing season.
Even with the improvement witnessed over the most recent season, production remains near 100-year lows as everything from hurricanes and disease to urbanization has reduced the number of viable trees.
According to the University of Florida's Emerging Pathogens Institute, citrus greening was first confirmed in Florida in 2005, but the insect responsible for spreading the disease had been present in the state since 1998, if not earlier.
Harvesters used to routinely report orange production in excess of 200 million boxes around the turn of the 21st century - a figure that stands at just 12.92 million boxes now.
According to USDA data, California has surpassed Florida as the nation's leading orange-producing state, helped in part by widespread irrigation systems that allow growers fight off drought conditions.
State lawmakers have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars for research and development aimed at helping the industry, but it remains unclear whether the investments will be enough to reverse years of declining production.
The first outlook for the 2026-27 growing season is scheduled to be released in October, with peak harvesting typically occurring during the winter and spring.
According to farming experts, harvesting of navel oranges usually begins in late September, while Valencia oranges, which are used in the production of juice, are typically not harvested until late December and into the new year.
