That's the verdict of Citrus Australia CEO Nathan Hancock, who spoke to orange growers, processors, and other industry players at the Griffith Ex-Servicemen's Club on Wednesday.

He was one of the speakers at the 2019 Citrus Australia Juice Forum, which was held over a two-day conference on June 12 and June 13.

They came discuss the challenges facing orange growers, such as the decrease in orange prices after three years of high returns.

Mr Hancock said he expected citrus supply to continue increasing, meaning Australian citrus growers would need to act fast to avoid further losses.

"We can't as growers keep producing product the way that we are and remain in this business," Mr Hancock said.

"We don't want the juice industry to disappear because it's a way you can diversify your business."

But the forum wasn't all doom and gloom; he said there were two big opportunities for the industry, the first being China's growing demand for juice and the second being innovation.

NSW Department of Primary Industries citrus development officer Andrew Creek talked enthusiastically about some of the innovations being made in places such as Leeton.

New citrus varieties, new growing techniques, and new technology are some of the innovations being homegrown in Leeton and put into practice by farmers such as Alan Harrison.

After the forum people took a tour of his Stanbridge farm to see some of the new techniques already being implemented in the region, such as Salustiana pruning strategies and low-height high density trees managed with dwarfing viroid.

Leeton is a hotbed of innovation, and Citrus Australia is hoping innovations like these can help orange growers claw their way back up to the level of profitability of the good old days.

In March this year Citrus Australia set up a juice committee, which was set up with the goal of increasing returns for growers back to $420 per tonne.