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LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) - When Jason Johnson graduates college next month with a degree in citrus production, chances are he will look for jobs in landscaping rather than the state's $9 billion citrus industry. It makes better economic sense.
"My roommate and I said we're going to stop farming orange groves and start farming houses," said Johnson, 26, a student at Florida Southern College in Lakeland. "I love the citrus industry. It's part of me. But at the same time ... you see urbanization coming in. You see the houses coming in, and what do you do? You put plants around them."
Urbanization, hurricanes and diseases are transforming the industry that produces Florida's signature crops, leaving behind a less promising future for the next generation of growers, production managers and citrus marketers. No one predicts its end, but the outlook has gotten more dismal in the past two years for the state's citrus industry, which in recent years has abdicated the title of being Florida's largest crop to horticulture.
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