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.”
The announcement was another major blow to what has been one of Florida’s signature industries. At its peak, Florida produced 244 million boxes of oranges during the 1997-1998 season, according to Florida Citrus Mutual. During the 2023-2024 season, it produced 17.96 million boxes of oranges — and is forecast to produce 12 million boxes this season after Hurricane Milton barreled through groves.
In a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Alico said its board on Friday approved reducing its workforce by up to 172 employees. Up to 135 employees will lose their jobs immediately, while up to 37 will be let go April 1, according to the filing.
An Alico news release Monday described the changes as a “strategic transformation to become a diversified land company.” It said the company owns 53,371 acres of land in eight Florida counties and about 48,700 acres of oil, gas and mineral rights.
Though it will exit the citrus business, Alico said about 75 percent of its land is expected to remain tied to agriculture and that about 10 percent could be targeted for development within five years.
“Alico expects to maintain its commitment to the Florida agriculture industry through diversified farming operations on nearly all its land holdings following this citrus production transition,” the news release said.
“Alico also expects to entitle certain parcels of its land for commercial and residential development. The company believes these strategic decisions improve its ability to provide investors with a greater return on capital that includes the benefits and stability of a conventional agriculture investment, with the optionality that comes with active land management.”
Also, the Securities and Exchange Commission filing said Alico on Friday notified the juice maker Tropicana that it planned to stop production on groves that were part of a contract between the companies. The filing said that “if Tropicana consents, its purchase obligations under the agreement with respect to such acreage are expected to conclude upon the completion of the 2024/2025 crop year.”
During a call Monday with investment analysts, Kiernan said the 3,460 acres that will be managed by other operators will remain under contract with Tropicana through 2026.
Citrus production was already expected to decrease during the 2024-2025 season, but projections became even more bleak after Hurricane Milton made landfall in October in Sarasota County and moved through citrus-growing areas as it crossed the state.
In a quarterly financial report issued Dec. 2, Alico said Milton “impacted most of our citrus groves with sustained hurricane or tropical storm force winds for varying durations of time. The company believes that our groves sustained minimal tree damage; however, there was measurable fruit drop from trees in our northern groves, particularly in Polk and Hardee counties.”
The quarterly report said Alico harvested about 3.1 million boxes of fruit during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, a timeframe similar to the 2023-2024 citrus season.
