“For over a century, Alico has been proud to be one of Florida’s leading citrus producers and a dedicated steward of its agricultural land, but we must now reluctantly adapt to changing environmental and economic realities," said said John Kiernan, Alico’s president and CEO. "Our citrus production has declined approximately 73 percent over the last 10 years, despite significant investments in land, trees and citrus disease treatments, and the current harvest will likely be lower in volume than the previous season.
"The impact of Hurricanes Irma in 2017, Ian in 2022 and Milton in 2024 on our trees, already weakened from years of citrus greening disease, has led Alico to conclude that growing citrus is no longer economically viable for us in Florida,” said Kiernan.
Alico plans to wind down Alico Citrus’ primary operations, which will include reducing most of its citrus production workforce effective immediately. The company expects that approximately 3,460 citrus acres will be managed by third-party caretakers for another season through 2026.