USDA: Florida's citrus production has dropped by nearly 75% in the past decade

On September 28, 2022, Hurricane Ian made landfall as a category 4 hurricane on the southwest coast of Florida, the United States' top citrus-producing State. The hurricane crossed the peninsula, bringing severe winds and rainfall to some of the State's foremost citrus-producing counties.

Many of these same counties were affected by Hurricane Irma 5 years earlier. When Irma hit in September 2017, the State's citrus production was already on a downward trajectory from diseases and other factors reducing acreage and yields.

Florida's citrus production fell by 1.3 million tons from the hurricane-free 2016/17 season, with the total value of production dropping 39 percent. On October 12, 2022, USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service released a citrus production estimate of about 1.4 million tons for the 2022/23 crop year.

This forecast is 32 percent below total production from the previous season and does not take into consideration losses from Ian. While 2017 and 2022 hurricane events are distinct from one another, the effects of Irma can be used as a proxy to estimate the potential impact on value until the impact on the State's total citrus production can be fully assessed.