As disease takes toll on citrus, more Florida farmers turning to olives

Michael O’Hara Garcia doesn’t have an exact reason the olive industry is starting to spring up in Florida. “That’s a really good question,” the president of the Florida Olive Council said. But, he added, it might have to do with the economic necessity created by HLB disease — or citrus greening disease. For the past eight years, HLB disease has wreaked havoc to the tune of billions of dollars in financial loss on the Sunshine State’s citrus market. Garcia said that in that time, Florida farming has taken an interest in olives.