Alico expands the herd

FORT MYERS — Agribusiness giant Alico says it is boosting the size of its cattle herd even as citrus revenues rose 51% in the most recent quarter compared with the same quarter a year ago.

Alico says citrus sales in the fourth quarter rose to $10.6 million. The increase reflects the company's acquisitions last year of Orange-co and Silver Nip Citrus, which boosted its citrus holdings to 46,000 acres and transformed the company into the nation's largest citrus producer.

Also in the fourth quarter, the company says it held 1,000 calves it would have typically sold. Instead, the company says it will hold the calves to boost the size of its herd for its ranching operations.

Because it didn't sell 1,000 calves, Alico says it suffered a net loss of $2.5 million on total revenues of $13 million in the fourth quarter ending Sept. 30. That compares with net income of $4 million on revenues of $14.5 million in the same quarter of 2014.

“Our groves are highly productive with fiscal year 2015 production of approximately 10.5 million boxes, an increase of 5% over the 10 million boxes sold in the prior season, on a pro-forma basis, when the industry declined by 8% over the same period,” says Alico CEO Clay Wilson, in a statement. “We believe that our production continues to outpace the state and we attribute this to the quality of our groves and superior horticultural practices.”