Citrus crisis: As an iconic Florida crop fades, another tree rises

Every spring, the sweet smell of citrus blossoms permeates the air on the Estes family farm in Vero Beach, Florida. The family has grown and harvested citrus on this land for more than a century.

“The smell used to filter into town,” the farm’s third-generation owner Cody Estes says, smiling.

But despite their heritage and deep connection to the industry, Mr. Estes doubts he’ll ever plant another citrus tree in the groves. Eventually, his family’s plan is to leave Florida’s $6.5 billion industry to invest in a new, imported crop, much as citrus was before European colonizers brought the Asia-derived fruit to North American shores. Anything else he puts in the ground, Mr. Estes says, will be a tree called pongamia. 

The citrus industry,