Almost Half a Year Later, Citrus Farmers in Florida Still Reeling from Hurricane Ian

When Hurricane Ian swept across citrus orchards in south central Florida counties, early variety fruit, such as Hamlin oranges, were the most at risk.

"Most farmers do, in a sense, live paycheck to paycheck," Laine Daum, a third-generation Florida citrus grower said via AccuWeather. "You won't see that money until they pick up the fruit and put it in a box."

Unfortunate Season

Producers in certain Polk, Highlands, Hardee, and DeSoto counties claim that Ian stole between 50% and 90% of their citrus harvest.

The state's citrus harvest was already anticipated to be the smallest since 1935 before the storm.

At the citrus grove owned by his family near Lake Placid, Laine Daum strolls across a row of Hamlin oranges.

To assess the damage, he crosses a sea of still-green oranges pooling beneath the trees.

The majority of the fruit, he noted, was on the ground. Even the fruit beginning to turn color will soon fall to the ground.

Ian's Impact

The almost ripe fruit, such as Hamlin oranges, usually cultivated earlier in the season, was most susceptible to damage as hurricane-force winds tore through the orchard.

Daum said that he had already picked half of his tangerines.

According to Daum, they will probably lose between 70% and 80% percent of our early-variety fruit crop.

With torrential rains and strong winds, Hurricane Ian devastated most of Florida's citrus plantations.

Fruit that had fallen from trees and lost foliage was immediately noticeable.

Still, experience indicated that recovery will take longer and that fruit and leaf loss will continue in the coming months.

After making landfall on the Florida coast with sustained winds of 150 mph, Hurricane Ian tore across the center of the state of Florida, wreaking havoc on orange orchards.

Trees were uprooted, and fruit was torn from branches. And after dropping several inches of rain throughout the state's heartland, Ian sometimes left groves under three feet of water.

The harm occurred in a year when Florida was already forecast to have its smallest citrus crop in over eight decades.

According to preliminary estimates, Ian caused at least $1.56 billion in agricultural losses for the state, with the citrus industry alone taking a $300 million impact.

According to Florida Department of Citrus representatives, those figures will probably increase.

Assessing the Damages

The University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences study focuses primarily on fruit-related harm.

The study assessed damage to citrus trees and other infrastructure.

The citrus projection for 2022 to 2023 represents the lowest anticipated crop since 1935 before the state considers Hurricane Ian's devastation.

Director of the Florida Department of Citrus Shannon Shepp remarked, "That's challenging. To put things in perspective, we produced just under 41 million boxes of oranges last year. And to provide some further information, in 2004 we processed 240 million cartons."

Justin Hood, a fifth-generation producer, recalls the day when "growing citrus was straightforward."

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