Florida orange crop estimate drops
Florida orange crop estimate drops
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said its estimate of the 2014-15 Florida orange crop decreased 5.6 million boxes to 96.4 million. During the 2013-14 season, Florida produced 104 million boxes of oranges.
Early-mid varieties increased slightly to 47.4 million boxes while Valencia oranges dipped 6 million boxes to 49 million.
"There is no doubt about it we are certainly in challenging times," Michael W. Sparks, executive vice president and chief executive officer of Florida Citrus Mutual, said in a press release. "This decrease is not a surprise from what we've been hearing out in the field. I would expect this kind of drop to put upward pressure on grower returns and that's a silver lining.
"The good news is we continue to produce the best citrus in the world even faced with the current pest and disease pressure," he added.
The USDA's estimate of the 2014-15 Florida grapefruit crop dropped to 12.9 million boxes from 13 million. Specialty citrus stayed at 3 million boxes.