Florida Grapefruit Acres Drops Due To Greening (HLB)

[Millet]

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Florida grapefruit acreage has dropped from more than 124,000 acres in 1970 to about 40,300 acres in the most recent season

[Citradia]

That's tragic and scary.

[BajaJohn]

There seems to be some hope of lessening HLB damage, if not of eradicating the infection - http://www.growingproduce.com/citrus/an-alternative-approach/

Other factors have contributed to loss of grove acreage - such as a demand for property development as Florida's population tripled over the same time period. Damage from citrus canker and hurricanes also played their part in pushing land from agriculture to commercial/residential - http://flcitrusmutual.com/render.aspx?p=/news/heraldtribune_chapter11_121708.aspx. It isn't just citrus either. All of Florida agriculture seems to be in decline - http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/agriculture/dying-on-the-vine-floridas-shriveling-agriculture-industry-cant-shake-the/2305711