Fort Myers land company shutters citrus production, cuts 170 jobs

Fort Myers agriculture and land giant Alico Inc. is shutting down its citrus production after more than 120 years, citing what it calls changing economic and environment realities.

In a statement Monday morning, the company says its Alico Citrus division has faced increasing financial challenges from citrus greening disease and environmental causes for several years and has “decided to not spend further capital on its citrus operations after the current crop is harvested in 2025.”

The company instead “will focus its resources on creating new opportunities for profitable growth while also acting prudently on behalf of shareholders."

Alico, in the statement, says it plans to wind down Alico Citrus’ operations immediately.

“Unfortunately, we came to the conclusion that it's not economically viable for Alico to grow citrus in Florida, and we hope that that doesn't apply to everyone else,” , Alico President and CEO John Kiernan says in an interview with the Business Observer. 

He called making the decision to shut the operation and layoffs associated with it “a heart wrenching process. I feel horrible for our employees.”

In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Jan. 3, Alico says it is cutting its workforce by up to 172 employees. About 135 of those jobs were cut Monday and another 37 are due to be cut April 1.

Kiernan, in the Monday statement, says the company's citrus production has declined 73% over the past decade and that this season’s crop is expected to be even smaller than last seasons.

According the company’s most recent earnings report released Dec. 2, for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 the citrus division’s harvest increased 14.7% from the previous year, to 3.1 million boxes of fruit.

Alico announced last year it had agreed to sell the citrus fruit grown on approximately 65% of it “currently planted” acres to Tropicana Brands Group at prices per pound about approximately 33% to 50% higher over the term of the contract than the average price for all the citrus fruit sold to Tropicana the previous season.

But at the time of the earnings report in early December the company was already concerned — saying it was unable to forecast the size of the next crop and could not provide a financial forecast.

Kiernan, in the statement, says Hurricanes Irma, Ian and Milton contributed to the company’s decline in production, impacting trees that were already weakened from years of citrus greening disease.

Citrus greening, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Affairs, is a bacterial disease that attacks the vascular system of plants. “Once infected,” the department says, “there is no cure for the disease, and in areas where the disease is endemic, citrus trees decline and die within a few years.”

That a Florida citrus grower is getting out of the business is not terribly surprising.

Since the 2003/2004 season, Florida land planted with trees that are at least three years old and are mature enough to produce a crop has declined at an average rate of 3% year, according to report last year from the United States Department of Agriculture.

In April 2024, the agency forecast Florida’s orange 2023-24 production at 846,000 tons, 19% higher than the previous season but the second-lowest harvest in nearly 90 years.

Alico, according to a history on its website, traces its roots back to early 20th century Florida when the Atlantic Land and Improvement Company first launched.

Today, it owns approximately 53,371 acres across eight counties in the state, as well as approximately 48,700 acres of oil, gas and mineral rights.

According to the statement, it expects to continue “diversified farming operations on nearly all its land holdings following this citrus production transition” but says some land will be set aside for commercial and residential development.

Alico, the statement says, “believes these strategic decisions improve its ability to provide investors with a greater return on capital that includes the benefits and stability of a conventional agriculture investment, with the optionality that comes with active land management.”

Alico Inc. posted $46.64 million in revenue in 2024, up 17.1% from the previous year.