What Are Florida Citrus Growers Planting?

Florida citrus growers understand that planting trees is a critical element securing the industry’s future success. According to the Florida Grower® magazine 2020-2021 Citrus Industry Pulse Survey, growers are taking that message to heart. More than 70% of survey respondents indicate they are actively replanting citrus trees. But what are they planting? See the image to the left for what our survey revealed.

Peter Chaires, Executive Director of the New Varieties Development and Management Corp., says what he is hearing on the ground generally coincides with the results of this year’s survey.

“Grapefruit and Valencia are getting the most attention,” Chaires says. “Grapefruit field performance still makes folks edgy, but we need a higher quality product to offer. The new specialties are coming with a steep learning curve at the nursery and field levels. Growers are very conservative in their plantings.

“We have a good bit of ‘Minneola’ coming into production again, but it always cycles in and out. ‘Sugar Belle’ continues to perform, but growers don’t know how much acreage is needed for fresh and are not yet clear how much value processors will place on using it for blending. ‘Marathon’ trials showed some promise this fall, but again, growers are moving slowly and cautiously. ‘Bingo’ growers are trying different approaches to gain consistency in cropping and maintaining fruit size and to control drop,” Chaires says.