As they begin to assess groves damaged by Hurricane Ian, Southwest Florida citrus growers are seeing conditions potentially worse than after Hurricane Irma, which played a key role in citrus production falling by more than one-third in 2017. Matt Joyner, executive vice president and CEO of Florida Citrus Mutual, said Friday it might be more than a week before Ian’s impacts are fully known, as growers in DeSoto and Hardee counties still have fields underwater.
As they begin to assess groves damaged by Hurricane Ian, Southwest Florida citrus growers are seeing conditions potentially worse than after Hurricane Irma, which played a key role in citrus production falling by more than one-third in 2017. Matt Joyner, executive vice president and CEO of Florida Citrus Mutual, said Friday it might be more than a week before Ian’s impacts are fully known, as growers in DeSoto and Hardee counties still have fields underwater.