VERO BEACH, Fla. — You're likely going to find it a lot more difficult and a lot more expensive to buy orange juice, oranges and other citrus fruits.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday released a new forecast showing Florida is expected to produce 51% fewer oranges during the 2022-23 season than the previous year.
That's the smallest amount of oranges the state has produced since the 1936-37 season.
Louis Schacht, the owner of Schacht Groves in Vero Beach, told WPTV NewsChannel 5 the lack of supply is affecting him too and is going to impact the price of fruits and fruit juices in stores, as there isn't enough supply to meet demand.
Schacht said there's a few reasons behind the severe decline in harvest this year.
For one, a bacterial disease called citrus greening that growers have fought for years is getting worse, and it's killing his crops.
"The industry is a fraction of what it used to be," Schacht said. "Historically, we'd produce 40 million boxes of grapefruits, and this year it's less than two million boxes of grapefruits. Any other industry would call that a collapse."
He said the disease is threatening not just his crops, but his livelihood, particularly at a time when inflation is hitting just as hard.
"The cost of fertilizer has gone up. A lot of things have gone up this year," he said.
On top of that, both Hurricanes Ian and Nicole wiped out much of his already thinning crops.
"We lost about 25% here between Ian and Nicole," Schacht said.
For Schacht, it's an issue that's personal. His family has owned the citrus grove for three generations, and made it through tough times before.
"This is our 72nd year," Schacht said. "When we try to feel important, we call ourselves growers. When we feel poor, we call ourselves farmers."
Jokes aside, Schacht said the days of feeling like a farmer are growing more and more frequent. He's now left with a fear of what's to come, both for his family business and for his workers.
"We employ about 10 people in season," Schacht said. "It's a situation that everyone in the industry thinks about. The cost of growing a tree is not going to go down. Every year it gets a little worse. It's kind of a way of life and you want to hold on to it, you know?"
Still, Schacht said, he's keeping his chin up, focusing on what he, his father and his grandfather have done for years.
"You can sit around and pout about it, but we're trying to be proactive, trying to keep growing and trying to figure out how to work it," Schacht said.
Schacht said he expects prices in stores to continue to rise to offset the lack of supply, as Vero Beach shopper Kevin Holzapfel said he's already seeing prices soar.
"Not only have I seen the number of oranges go down, I've seen the price of oranges go up," Holzapfel said. "I've noticed prices increase with orange juice, too."
Schacht said he has had to increase his prices to offset the costs he's paying, but said even still he's not expecting to make much of a profit at all, instead relying heavily on crop insurance to meet his needs.
He also encouraged the community to shop local and told WPTV every little bit spent at his orchard and others can help keep local groves afloat.
