The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Florida’s citrus industry were recently summarized by Fritz Roka, director of the Florida Gulf Coast University’s (FGCU) Center of Agribusiness. Roka discussed pandemic impacts on both the citrus production side of the industry and the packing and juice-processing segments.
Here are some highlights of Roka’s presentation that apply to both the production and packing/processing segments:
- Because the pandemic hit at the end of the citrus harvesting season, COVID-19 had minimal impact on harvesting.
- Zoom meetings, which became very popular during the pandemic, provided the benefits of employees spending less time away from the farm, reduced travel costs and increased productivity.
- There were added, but not significant, costs for personal protective equipment. There were also added costs for bonus and hazard pay.
Long-term concerns resulting from …..
Read about the long-term concerns, and more, about the COVID-19 Impacts on Florida Citrus on the Citrus Industry website.