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Polk Still Top Citrus County

Lakeland Ledger – September 25, 2009

LAKELAND | A crash in farm prices for oranges that began in January 2008 plus declining orange juice sales for most of last season sent the value of Florida’s orange crop below $1 billion for the first time in four years.

But Polk County retained its title as the state’s top citrus-producing county, even putting a little distance between it and other top citrus counties.

Polk’s total citrus production of almost 30.3 million boxes accounted for 16 percent of the state’s total.

Florida growers produced 189.1 million boxes of oranges, grapefruit, tangerines and tangelos during the 2008-09 season, according to the preliminary season summary released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That’s 7.2 percent less than 203.8 million boxes in the 2007-08 season.

But growers didn’t reap higher farm prices despite the lower supply.

Based on the farm prices growers received for their fruit, the USDA put a total value of $993 million on last season’s crop, down 22.7 percent from the $1.3 billion earned the previous season.

That’s the lowest value since $754.2 million on-tree for the 2004-05 Florida citrus crop.

Farm prices for oranges and grapefruit, the state’s two biggest citrus crops, were lower across the board.

Orange growers earned an average $4.72 per box on-tree on a total crop of 162.4 million boxes in 2008-09, the USDA reported. That declined 20 percent from the $5.90 on-tree average the previous season.

The on-tree price reflects the amount paid to growers after juice processors, who buy 95 percent of Florida’s annual orange crop, and fresh fruit packinghouses deduct harvesting and transportation costs.

The USDA valued all 2008-09 Florida oranges at $880 million, down 22 percent from $1.1 billion a year ago.

Grapefruit growers fared worse with an average $3.84 per box on-tree last season, down 15 percent from $4.42 the previous two seasons. About 60 percent of Florida’s 2008-09 grapefruit crop went to juice while the rest sold as fresh.

Last season’s grapefruit crop was worth $83.4 million, down 29 percent from $117.5 million a year ago.

Only tangerine growers saw higher prices. They earned $7.15 per box on-tree last season on 3.85 million boxes, nearly 7 percent higher than the $6.70 average on 5.5 million boxes a year ago.

But lower production pushed the value of last season’s tangerine crop down to $27.5 million, a 25 percent decline from $36.8 million in 2007-08.

About 70 percent of last season’s tangerine crop sold as fresh fruit. Overall fresh citrus sold better than fruit to juice in 2008-09.

Florida’s orange production has declined by a third since the 242 million boxes produced in 2003-04 season, the last unaffected by hurricanes and disease. That was the state’s second highest orange crop.

But the U.S. market for orange juice shrunk from 807 million OJ gallons sold at retail five years ago to a projected 640 million gallons in 2008-09, according to the Florida Department of Citrus.

As a result, Florida processors have built up near-record OJ inventories, which has lowered demand for recent orange crops and put downward pressure on farm prices.

Polk again led the state in total citrus production as well as orange and tangerine production.

The 30.3 million boxes produced in Polk bested runner-up Highlands County with 23.2 million boxes. But Highlands leaped over Hendry County, the traditional No. 2, which fell to third at 21.8 million boxes.

Rounding out the top five were DeSoto County with 20.6 million boxes and Hardee County at 15.4 million boxes.

Polk’s total citrus production declined just 2.5 percent from 31 million boxes in 2007-08, compared to 11 percent in Hendry. Hendry and other southern counties have significantly greater tree loss from citrus greening.

Polk growers produced more than 1 million boxes of tangerines last season, easily outdistancing runner-up Lake County with 472,000 boxes.

Local growers also produced 1.8 million boxes of grapefruit in 2008-09, ranking third behind Indian River County with 7.3 million boxes and St. Lucie County with 7.1 million boxes.

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