Major Florida Citrus Grower Jumps Ship, Will Build Homes

One of Florida's biggest citrus growers plans to build a 3,000-acre community in southwest Florida, just months after announcing it was abandoning its citrus-growing operations at the end of this year's season. Alico Inc.—which Agriculture Dive reports has been a Tropicana supplier—said it has filed a development application for the first of two villages near the intersection of Collier, Lee, and Hendry counties. Each village will have about 4,500 homes and will be integrated with 6,000 acres of protected conservation land, the company said. The Fort Myers-based company owns 53,371 acres across eight counties in Florida and 48,700 acres of oil, gas, and mineral rights in the state.

In announcing its decision to end citrus operations in January, the company said its production has declined by 73% in a decade, "despite significant investments in land, trees, and citrus disease treatments." Alico's woes are part of the larger struggle faced by Florida's citrus industry, the AP reports. Hurricanes and a vicious citrus greening disease have contributed to a 90% decline in the state's orange production over the past two decades. Meanwhile, with huge numbers of people moving into Florida, developers are increasingly building homes where the orange groves once stood.

(More oranges stories.)