Orange Industry Crippled By Hurricane
Over half of the oranges grown in America are grown in Florida. Hurricane Milton did severe damage to this year’s production. Before that, Helene did damage, but much less. Hurricane Ian, another Category 5 storm, damaged the industry two years ago.
*Hurricane Damage News
According to Bloomberg, “The US Department of Agriculture’s first forecast for the 2024-25 season showed Florida orange production falling 16% from a year earlier to 15 million boxes, the lowest level since 1933.” Those numbers were released before Milton pushed that figure lower.
Wholesalers of oranges don’t have many options for supply. California produces oranges, but not at nearly the level Florida does. Oranges can also be imported from Brazil, but that causes higher transportation prices.
High Juice Prices
Americans need to brace for higher orange and orange juice prices. This is the rare time weather has caused inflation.
It takes little imagination to see where the environment could damage other large US crops to the extent that production could be undermined. “Tornado Alley” runs through Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Arkansas. Nebraska is a huge producer of corn. Kansas is one of the largest producers of wheat. This broad geography is known as the Plain States and Midwest. Beyond tornadoes, these areas can be plagued by hail and drought.
Oranges may be the latest agricultural victims of climate change, but they won’t be the last.
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