RIO GRANDE VALLEY, Texas (RFD-TV) — The Texas citrus harvest is underway, with growers reporting a good crop despite ongoing challenges for the industry.
Longtime South Texas citrus producer Fred Karle says grapefruit remains a major focus of the harvest.
“The main things are grapefruit and like I say we have the best grapefruit in the world and it’ll run, it can run through April sometimes.”
However, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller says commercial development continues to reduce citrus acreage.
“The biggest thing is urban encroachment. We pushed out acres and acres of citrus down there to build data centers and shopping malls and the land’s just worth more commercially than it is to. We’re not planting enough new citrus to replace what’s being torn out. Unfortunately, our citrus industry number-wise is shrinking every year.”
Karle says the region now has about a quarter of the citrus acreage it had decades ago, with changing consumer demand also affecting the industry.
Despite those challenges, Karle says this year’s crop is looking promising.
“Well, the fruit’s looking good and I think we’d like to have it size up a little bit, but it’s already going in the market.”
Miller says expanded export opportunities are also helping Texas citrus producers.
“It’s a decent crop. Our aggressive overseas marketing is paying off. We’re now getting our citrus into South Korea for the first time in 30 years. We’ve opened up markets in Vietnam and Asia that we’ve never had before.”
Karle says additional rainfall and water would be welcome as the harvest continues.
