Even though 2020 is behind us and empty grocery store shelves seem like a thing of the past, one popular fruit could be missing from the produce section later this year. Yep, there could be an orange shortage!

Experts started predicting a decline in the number of harvested boxes of oranges back in August. Official end-of-the-year numbers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture published in December confirm their fears: the orange production for the entire country was down 11.8% in 2020. In California, the harvest was down 5.3%. In Texas, it went up 12.3%, but the state only produced 64,000 tons compared to California's 2,020,000. In Florida, orange production was down 16.8%, and it continues to worry experts.

"In general as a grower in the state, we all have concerns about the industry," Louis Schacht, a third-generation citrus grower with a grove near Florida's Atlantic coast, told local news station 12News. "A lot of growers just didn't have the money to put into their crop for this season, so a lot of your production will be down because of that this year."

Ever since 2005, Florida oranges have been suffering from a bacterial disease called "Greening," which infects the trees that then produce smaller fruit, according to The Ledger. Schacht says it's a big reason why he and other growers haven't planted new citrus trees recently. It can take a seed-grown tree 15 years to reach maturity and start producing fruit, says SFGATE. So fewer trees = smaller harvests for a while.