Tifton, GA |

Not even a decade ago, citrus production here in Georgia was almost nonexistent. But thanks to a recent boom there are now more than half a million trees planted on nearly four thousand acres of land within the state. And while some growers were affected by the recent storms, it is still shaping up to be some huge yields.

“We’re estimating that we lost about five percent of our trees statewide, but in the grand scheme of things, that’s not as bad as some of the other commodities. When we look at individual groves, we saw anywhere from zero to forty percent fruit loss, just depending on where in the path of the hurricane they were, what variety it was, and how old those trees were. It’s looking very promising even though we got hit by Hurricane Helene, it’s still looking like this is going to be a record year for citrus,” says Mary Sutton, Citrus Extension Specialist.

That is very good news for the industry, as it suffered through two straight years of little to no production due to the late freeze in 2022.

“So, this year especially, was a very heavy crop load. So, after the freeze in 2022, 2023 was a rebuilding year for a lot of trees. So, we didn’t see a big crop last year. So, the trees are kind of overcompensating this year. If you go out and look at trees, most of the limbs are almost laying down, they have so much fruit on them, which is good for this year, but that means in the future, like next year might be a lower year just because they’ve invested all their resources into this year,” says Sutton.

With that in mind, it’s imperative growers are well prepared for the coming harvest and what to do with the crop once it is off the trees.

“In the coming months, just keep a very close eye on your crop. With all this cold weather we’ve been having you can expect the fruit to start coloring up and just make sure you’ve got a good plan in place for where you’re going to send the fruit. I’ve heard some interest in exporting the fruit to Florida and make sure you’ve got the right certification so you can actually get them over the state lines,” says Sutton.

That’s because citrus production in the Sunshine State has fallen more than ninety percent over the past quarter century due to hurricanes and citrus greening. And while it is a relatively new industry here in the state, Georgia is well positioned to help fill the void.

“Right now, research is really just getting started. So, one of the things we want to focus on is freeze protection methods because that is one of the things that most threatens the industry here. We don’t have the disease pressure that places like Florida do. Right now, the Georgia citrus industry is still pretty small, so you have pockets of citrus, so they’re pretty isolated and that keeps them safe from most of that disease,” says Sutton.

That being said, there is still plenty of research to be done in order to maximize yields year in and year out.

“A lot of the questions are just cultural management practices, fertilizer questions, when they should be fertilizing? How much? Similarly with canopy management, should they be pruning? When should they be pruning? Also with irrigation, how much water should they be putting out and stuff like that. So, there’s a lot of questions that still need to be answered. So, it’s an exciting new area of research for the state,” says Sutton.

By: Damon Jones