Florida citrus crop report a reminder of hurricane damage
Florida citrus crop report a reminder of hurricane damage
The U.S. Department of Agriculture released its June citrus crop estimate June 10, and other than future crop reports for bookkeeping purposes, the June estimate is considered the final report for the 2004-05 season.
While the Florida crop in all citrus commodities is down radically from normal years due to the four hurricanes that swept through the state last fall, the current report is only slightly different from the one issued by the USDA a month earlier.
The agency expects state growers to produce 12.8 million boxes of grapefruit, a decrease of 200,000 boxes originally forecast.
"Had the hurricanes not been a factor, this season's crop report would have read somewhere near 40 million boxes," said Doug Bournique, executive vice president and general manager of the Indian River Citrus League. But they did hit and they caused an enormous amount of damage and destruction that continues today because of how the winds and rains associated with the storms caused canker disease to spread. Well never know what this seasons crop might have been like.
The Indian River area is well known around the world for the high quality of citrus especially grapefruit produced there and primarily for the fresh market. The Indian River Citrus League is an organization comprised of citrus growers located in the Indian River area, which runs along the eastern side of the state.
Pre-August 13, which was when the first hurricane moved through the state, the Indian River area was expected to produce about 28 million boxes of grapefruit, which is a normal average, Mr. Bournique said. This year, only 4.2 million boxes came out of the region. Thats a pretty dramatic loss.
The crop report on oranges from the state is expected to total 151.2 million boxes, which is unchanged from estimates from a month ago. For specialty fruit, the USDA expects totals to come in at 650,000 boxes of Temple oranges, 1.55 million boxes of tangelos and 4.45 million boxes of tangerines, including 2.45 million boxes of early varieties and 2 million boxes of Honey varieties.
Mr. Bournique added that between 220 million and 230 million boxes of oranges were expected before the hurricane season. Three of the storms ripped through the states citrus belt, which also changed that figure radically.
Other than the concern over what the upcoming hurricane season will hurl upon the state, citrus canker is the foremost problem on the minds of everyone in the Florida citrus industry today. Following several years of lawsuits and litigation, the states eradication program was well underway prior to last August, with the end of it and of canker in sight. The storms caused canker spores to spread widely and fast, setting the program back more than a full year.
Liz Compton, spokesperson for the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Affairs in Tallahassee, said that prior to the 2004 hurricane season, eradication program workers had finished cutting down and destroying all commercial trees that had tested positive for the disease.
We had one grove of about 21,000 trees that were within the 1,900-foot range of a canker find that remained to be cut down, she said. And we were down to about 175,000 residential exposed and infected trees remaining to be cut.
Following the hurricanes, the agency had to add 2,177,251 commercial exposed and infected commercial trees. Ms. Compton said that some have been cut, and some are scheduled to be cut. Eradication is now about 40 percent complete on commercial tree removal. In residential areas, an additional 125,000 trees will have to be removed because of canker spread by the storms.
The hurricanes resulted in the spread of canker to about six counties where it had never been discovered before, Ms. Compton added. In several other counties, the process was completed before the storms, but new infections have since been discovered. Eradication was underway in about 10 counties at the time the hurricanes, but we have found more infection in these counties as well.
Ms. Compton stressed that while this sounds like a terrible analysis, it is important to keep in mind that at least 96 percent of the commercial groves in Florida are still believed to be free of canker.
Therefore, it is still critical that the eradication program continue aggressively, she said. We are doing our best to continue on a fast track, but it is difficult to hire people because so many of the eligible workers are still working on the extensive hurricane repairs remaining to be done. In the meantime, we continue to hold training classes for grove workers to teach them to identify canker and how to survey for it. The department will continue to survey groves, but the extra sets of eyes are important. This is an enhancement to our survey efforts.
Ms. Compton said that those interested in the training classes should contact the FDACS. The department is also training and emphasizing decontamination procedures in commercial groves.
While the Florida crop in all citrus commodities is down radically from normal years due to the four hurricanes that swept through the state last fall, the current report is only slightly different from the one issued by the USDA a month earlier.
The agency expects state growers to produce 12.8 million boxes of grapefruit, a decrease of 200,000 boxes originally forecast.
"Had the hurricanes not been a factor, this season's crop report would have read somewhere near 40 million boxes," said Doug Bournique, executive vice president and general manager of the Indian River Citrus League. But they did hit and they caused an enormous amount of damage and destruction that continues today because of how the winds and rains associated with the storms caused canker disease to spread. Well never know what this seasons crop might have been like.
The Indian River area is well known around the world for the high quality of citrus especially grapefruit produced there and primarily for the fresh market. The Indian River Citrus League is an organization comprised of citrus growers located in the Indian River area, which runs along the eastern side of the state.
Pre-August 13, which was when the first hurricane moved through the state, the Indian River area was expected to produce about 28 million boxes of grapefruit, which is a normal average, Mr. Bournique said. This year, only 4.2 million boxes came out of the region. Thats a pretty dramatic loss.
The crop report on oranges from the state is expected to total 151.2 million boxes, which is unchanged from estimates from a month ago. For specialty fruit, the USDA expects totals to come in at 650,000 boxes of Temple oranges, 1.55 million boxes of tangelos and 4.45 million boxes of tangerines, including 2.45 million boxes of early varieties and 2 million boxes of Honey varieties.
Mr. Bournique added that between 220 million and 230 million boxes of oranges were expected before the hurricane season. Three of the storms ripped through the states citrus belt, which also changed that figure radically.
Other than the concern over what the upcoming hurricane season will hurl upon the state, citrus canker is the foremost problem on the minds of everyone in the Florida citrus industry today. Following several years of lawsuits and litigation, the states eradication program was well underway prior to last August, with the end of it and of canker in sight. The storms caused canker spores to spread widely and fast, setting the program back more than a full year.
Liz Compton, spokesperson for the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Affairs in Tallahassee, said that prior to the 2004 hurricane season, eradication program workers had finished cutting down and destroying all commercial trees that had tested positive for the disease.
We had one grove of about 21,000 trees that were within the 1,900-foot range of a canker find that remained to be cut down, she said. And we were down to about 175,000 residential exposed and infected trees remaining to be cut.
Following the hurricanes, the agency had to add 2,177,251 commercial exposed and infected commercial trees. Ms. Compton said that some have been cut, and some are scheduled to be cut. Eradication is now about 40 percent complete on commercial tree removal. In residential areas, an additional 125,000 trees will have to be removed because of canker spread by the storms.
The hurricanes resulted in the spread of canker to about six counties where it had never been discovered before, Ms. Compton added. In several other counties, the process was completed before the storms, but new infections have since been discovered. Eradication was underway in about 10 counties at the time the hurricanes, but we have found more infection in these counties as well.
Ms. Compton stressed that while this sounds like a terrible analysis, it is important to keep in mind that at least 96 percent of the commercial groves in Florida are still believed to be free of canker.
Therefore, it is still critical that the eradication program continue aggressively, she said. We are doing our best to continue on a fast track, but it is difficult to hire people because so many of the eligible workers are still working on the extensive hurricane repairs remaining to be done. In the meantime, we continue to hold training classes for grove workers to teach them to identify canker and how to survey for it. The department will continue to survey groves, but the extra sets of eyes are important. This is an enhancement to our survey efforts.
Ms. Compton said that those interested in the training classes should contact the FDACS. The department is also training and emphasizing decontamination procedures in commercial groves.
