Kyle Story's family has owned orange groves in Lake Wales since the 1930s and are planning to produce a million 90-pound boxes this year. This would come out at twice as many as last year; a clear recovery from Hurricane Ian. However, the rest of the state isn't as fruitful, with Florida expected to only yield 16 million boxes, the same as last year.
Damage from Hurricane Irma in 2017 and Idalia this year has made projections of 28 million boxes a pipe dream. Over the past 18 years it has been an ever-declining production situation for the industry due to citrus greening. However, treatments for citrus greening are being used for the first time this year here at Story's grove. He is hopeful that in the future, his trees will not only deliver more fruit, but better quality citrus as well.
Source: fox13news.com