by RYAN MILEJCZAK
Sponsored by Farm Credit of Central Florida
Oranges tend to steal the spotlight when it comes to Florida citrus, and indeed, they are the most grown type of citrus here in the Sunshine State. But Florida’s grapefruit production is worth consideration as well.
The grapefruit, Citrus x paradisi, is a naturally occurring hybrid of sweet oranges and pomelo which first appeared in the wild in the Caribbean in the 1600s, and first arrived in Florida at Safety Harbor in the 1800s. The most popular type of grapefruit, red grapefruit (also called pink grapefruit), was discovered here in 1906. The grapefruit has also been hybridized with other citrus varieties to create fruits such as the tangelo.
Today, the most commonly grown varieties of grapefruit in Florida are Ruby Red, Flame, Thompson, Marsh, and Duncan. The former three varieties are red grapefruit, and red varieties are by far the most grown, with six times as much red grapefruit grown compared to white.
Florida was once the largest producer of grapefruit in the US, but due to challenges such as greening, severe weather events, and development pressure, production has fallen considerably over the past several decades. Still, we remain the third-largest producer after California and Texas.
The 2024-2025 citrus season saw 1.3 million boxes of grapefruit produced, down from 1.79 million the previous season and 1.81 million in the 22-23 season. Of this, 1.16 million boxes were red grapefruit (compared to 1.55 million the previous season), while 140,000 boxes were white grapefruit (compared to 240,000 the previous season). This represented a production value of $33,669,000, compared to $43,491,000 in the 23-24 season.
In total, 10,600 acres of grapefruit are currently cultivated in our state, which decreased slightly from 11,800 in the 23-24 season. Most grapefruit production in Florida is centered around the Atlantic coast, particularly in Indian River County, St. Lucie County, and Polk County, with production also occurring in Lake, Collier, DeSoto, Hardee, Hendry, and Highlands counties. For the 2024-2025 season, St. Lucie County produced 827,000 boxes total (699,000 boxes of red grapefruit and 128,000 boxes of white grapefruit), while Indian River County produced 255,000 boxes (243,000 boxes of red grapefruit and 12,000 boxes of white grapefruit). Polk county produced 127,000 boxes, all red.
The remaining counties exclusively grow red grapefruit varieties. Other counties’ production numbers for the 23-24 season were:
- Collier: 1,000 boxes
- DeSoto: 32,000 boxes
- Hendry: 1,000 boxes
- Highlands: 19,000 boxes
- Lake: 18,000 boxes
While our grapefruit industry, and citrus industry at large, have been hard hit by greening, research is ongoing to try and fight this disease. Current research includes genetically modified trees that can kill the asian citrus psyllids that spread the disease, new antibacterial treatments, and breeding greening-resistant plants. With some hope, we may soon see a breakthrough that helps revitalize our state’s citrus industry.