California citrus growers are expecting average production volume for all products this season, as they face inflationary pressures and production cost increases that have affected the industry since the pandemic. 

“It really depends on the variety,” Casey Creamer, CEO of California Citrus Mutual (CCM) told FreshFruitPortal.com. “Navels are up roughly 5% from the prior season, which was one of the lowest seasons we’ve had.”

Lemon volumes are expected to decrease. A January forecast by the USDA brought the initial projected volume down from 23 to 20 million boxes for the state. 

With the mandarin crop ongoing, “we won’t have as large of a crop as we expected.” 

The USDA brought down the initial projections for mandarins from 23 to 22 million boxes in February. 

Creamer says the heavy rains from last year, after years of drought, are favoring fruit size with “great sizes expected in the market this year.”

“Generally, looking at where we’ve been the last couple of years, this season started better than we anticipated,” Creamer indicated.

Prices and production costs

Creamer says prices have been good this year, however, they are still not ideal. 

Continued increases in costs of production and inflationary pressures since the pandemic have “drastically increased the cost to grow, pack, and ship citrus all around the world,” he said. 

These costs have continued to grow and prices in the market haven't kept pace, posting a continuous challenge for California growers. 

The biggest challenge for the season

At the beginning of the season, due to atmospheric rivers, the thrips population grew during the bloom period. 

“The fruit suffered more thrips exterior scarring than we would like, which limited the supply of our best quality fruit,” Creamer said. 

He added, however, that the quality of the fruit inside has been very good, and that consumers have been a little bit more accepting of exterior scarring this season. 

Citrus greening

California has been dealing with the threat of Huanglongbing, also known as HLB or citrus greening, a disease caused by bacteria that has affected various species of citrus plants for over a decade. 

In comparison with Florida, whose citrus industry has suffered greatly from the disease, forcing growers to cut down trees and reducing production volumes year after year, Creamer said California has put in a lot of effort to control the spread.

“We do have HLB present in California, but only in residential areas of Southern California, within quarantine areas that have continued to grow in the past decade. This year it expanded into Ventura County, but again within residential areas,”  Creamer said. 

The state continues to monitor the situation to remove infected trees as quickly as possible. 

“Still to date, there are no commercial farms in California known to have the disease, and the industry invests between $15 to 18 million per year in programs to limit the spread of citrus greening and keep it from spreading to commercial orchards,” he added. 

Once a citrus fruit is infected with HLB, it is unmarketable and needs to be destroyed as it causes a bitter taste in the fruit and green bruising on the exterior. 

Exports

The export market is very important for California citrus, with the fruit being shipped to over 16 foreign countries. 

“California citrus is still in very high demand overseas, and we’ve been able to manage challenges with shipping and costs recently, keeping our market share the best we can,” Creamer said. 

On average, California citrus is marketed 70% domestically and 30% to export markets. 

“USDA reports that in the last couple of years, we’ve been closer to 80% domestic and 20% exports, which means we have lost a little bit of volume to our export markets, but everyone is working incredibly hard to maintain our customer base and open new markets around the world,” Creamer noted. 

2024 Citrus Showcase

On March 14, CCM will host the annual citrus showcase, an opportunity to gather the industry to discuss the latest technologies, pest and disease issues, and a variety of topics relevant to all involved in the industry. 

“It is an opportunity for fellowship with citrus industry professionals to get the latest and greatest information to help members make the best decisions to protect their products,” Creamer said.

The Citrus Showcase is open to the public and free to attend, apart from the industry luncheon, which requires advance registration. CCM invites growers and allied agricultural industry members to join them in a day of education, networking, and industry comradery. For more information and to register, go to myaglife.com/events-citrus-mutual/.