Florida orange juice production plummets amid crop disease, natural disasters and shrinking demand
In its juicy heyday, a glass of orange juice was a staple of a healthy breakfast. Orange crops flourished in Florida — the "Orange State."
Shannon Shepp, executive director of the state's Department of Citrus, agrees those were the "good old days," but she also knows nostalgia is no nutrient to grow a sunny future. While some industries have supply issues and some have demand issues, oranges have both.
Right now, supply is the greater challenge, Shepp said, due to a "terminal disease" that's been affecting citrus trees for two decades. Citrus greening is a bacterial infection spread by an Asian bug. It has blighted the state's orange industry, and although research is ongoing, there's no cure.
Over the last 20 years, production in Florida orange groves has plummeted 92%, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Demand for orange juice hit an all-time low last year, and this year is projected to be no better.
Over the years, consumer tastes changed. Concerns about sugar content have far fewer Americans drinking orange juice. At the industry's peak in the late 1990s, Florida produced 240 million boxes of oranges, according to the USDA.
Last year, just 17 million boxes were produced, Shepp said.
"It's a huge drop. We hold our breath on every crop forecast," she added.
This year's crop looked promising for farmers like Christian Spinosa, whose family's fifth-generation farm spans 800 acres. But last October, Hurricane Milton killed 40% of his Valencia oranges.
And now, there's a new threat: tariffs targeting Canada, the major importer of Florida oranges.
"Really it's our position that anybody who wants orange juice, we want them to have it," Shepp said.
Still, a defiant Spinsoa is fighting to make sure his family farm has a sixth generation to run it.
"Without a doubt, we can have America drinking orange juice. I don't envision a day where orange juice for breakfast is not a normal thing in America," Spinosa said.
