Florida orange supplies 'just got tighter'
Florida orange supplies 'just got tighter'
The U.S. Department of Agriculture decreased its forecast of the 2014-15 Florida orange crop by almost 5 percent, or 5 million boxes.
The USDA now says Florida will produce 103 million boxes of oranges this season, down from the 108 million predicted in December. The early-mid orange varieties dropped by 4 million boxes to 48 million, while the Valencia forecast decreased 1 million boxes to 55 million.
"This decrease was about what we expected after what we've heard from the field over the past few weeks," Michael W. Sparks, executive vice president and chief executive officer of Florida Citrus Mutual, said in a press release. "It's a tough environment out there as growers continue to battle citrus greening.
"Supply was already tight and it just got tighter," he said.
The USDA makes its initial estimate in October of each year and revises it monthly as the crop takes shape until the end of the season in July.
During the 2013-14 season, Florida produced 104 million boxes of oranges.
The USDA's estimate of the 2014-15 Florida grapefruit crop stayed at 15 million boxes. Specialty citrus also held steady at 3.3 million boxes.