Hurricane Ian threatens to ravage Florida's orange crop

Hurricane Ian is poised to ravage Florida's orange crop as it tears across the state, flooding the state's groves and ripping fruit off branches. It will drive the cost of juice higher for consumers, but it may also drive farmers struggling against disease and real estate development out of business.

According to Donald Keeney, Maxar Technologies Inc. meteorologist, there are about 90% of the crop belt in the top US producer of orange juice in Ian's path, including the three top-producing counties in the state. The storm shifted to the east to cover more of the region, causing futures prices to go up for a second day as the storm's track shifted east to cover more of the region, on mounting concern that harvests will take a huge hit once all the damage is revealed in coming days.

Raymond Royce, executive director of the Highlands County Citrus Growers Association in Sebring, Florida, said there is not a thing in the world that you can do to protect crops. All of the areas are going to have an impact. It could be the last straw for some Florida growers. The hurricane is a fresh blow to growers in Florida who are currently dealing with a devastating disease called citrus greening that damages fruit and eventually kills trees. The US needs to import fruit at a time when supply is very tight, due to the devastation of Florida crops. The US needs to bring in 65% of its consumption, as it accounts for roughly 11.5% of global production. Since 2017 the stockpiles in Brazil are at the lowest level since 2017.

Royce said that farmers are trying to secure equipment and pump sheds so they aren't blowing around, but flooding is inevitable. The problem is that the whole area will be inundated with water and you may not be able to pump water out because there may not be anywhere to put it. Growers are hunkering down and hoping the wind doesn't cause too much damage. "We have cut limbs and stuff down that we thought might be a problem and we moved things around," said James Oleson, owner of Boyett's Grove Citrus Attraction in Brooksville, Florida.

After the 2005 hurricane season, many citrus producers in Florida could not fully restore operations, according to Rabobank analyst Andres Padilla. It may be harder to recover this time as growers recently affected by citrus greening don't have enough economic resources to try to rehabilitate groves. He said that he said that the crop damage could permanently remove some of the producers from the market.

Ian could speed up the shift in demand. The high inflation has already pulled consumers away from orange juice. Some families have lost the habit of sharing a cup of juice during breakfast because of the aging population and fewer children per family, according to Padilla.

Florida's share of orange production has dwindled due to citrus greening, and is set to fall behind California as the largest producer in 2021 -- 2022, even though the state s output has suffered from drought. Florida accounts for more than 90% of the juice in the US.

Judy Ganes, of J Ganes Consulting, said that the crop could be blown off the trees, but the high prices and tighter supply will also shrink demand. After Hurricane Irma five years ago, Florida turned to Brazil for increased imports, she said. The fruit drop was worse than the loss in consumption. None of The Supreme Court is About to Display Its Power Imbalance Again?