The U.S. Department of Agriculture reduced its orange crop forecast for the 2011-12 season by 2 million boxes, estimating Florida will now produce 145 million boxes.
"It's truly amazing Florida growers can once again produce such a quality crop in the face of immense challenges such as HLB, or citrus greening," Michael W. Sparks, executive vice president and chief executive officer of Florida Citrus Mutual, said in a press release. "This is a testament to the resiliency of our growers and the fact they are the best in the world, bar none."