Major Florida citrus grower says crop harvest decreased by more than 50 percent this season

Alico, Inc., a major Florida citrus grower, saw its harvest decrease about 51 percent during the recently completed season, after Hurricane Ian hammered the industry, according to a U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission filing this week.

The filing said the Fort Myers-based company harvested about 2.7 million boxes of fruit during the nine-month period that ended June 30 — a period that generally corresponds with the 2022-2023 citrus season.

John Kiernan, the Fort Myers-based company’s president and chief executive officer, said in the filing that “box production” was down 51.4 percent from the 2021-2022 season — though Alico fared better than Florida’s overall citrus industry, which had its worst season in nearly a century.

The filing said Alico has received crop-insurance money and is watching a debate in Washington, D.C., over disbursement of disaster-relief funds included in a law passed in December.

“We continue to support Florida Citrus Mutual, our industry trade group, and government agencies as they work to finalize federal relief programs available under the act (the December law); however, we cannot determine the amount, if any, of federal relief the company may be eligible for related to the damage Hurricane Ian caused us,” Kiernan’s statement said.

Hurricane Ian made landfall in late September in Southwest Florida and barreled through key citrus-growing areas as it crossed the state.

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This article appears in Aug 2-8, 2023.