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USDA’s ’07-’08 Orange Crop Estimate Sees No Change

LAKELAND, Fla. (January 11, 2008) – Florida’s 2007-2008 orange crop estimate remained unchanged at 168 million boxes, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) which today released a revised citrus forecast.

“After the recent cold snap that came across our growing region, we are pleased to see the continued forecast for a healthy 168 million box crop,” said Michael W. Sparks, executive vice president/CEO of Florida Citrus Mutual. “This continues to be good news for growers.”

The 168 million boxes are made up of 77.9 million boxes of Early-Mids, 3.1 million boxes of Navels and 87 million boxes of Valencias.

The Florida citrus industry saw a decline in orange production from 230 million boxes to 129 million boxes during the five-year period between the 2001-2002 season and the 2006-2007 season. This reduction was due in large part to the effects of hurricanes and pests and diseases such as citrus canker and greening.

A 168 million box orange crop would represent a 30 percent increase from the 2006-2007 season. The USDA issues its initial estimate in October and then revises it each month through the end of the citrus season in July.

In today’s revised estimate, Florida grapefruit, tangelo and tangerine all remained unchanged as well at 25 million, 1.3 million and 4.8 million respectively.

The complete USDA crop forecast is available from the Florida Agriculture Statistics Service online at http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Florida/ Publications/Citrus/cpfp.htm.

Founded in 1948 and currently representing nearly 8,000 grower members, Florida Citrus Mutual is the state’s largest citrus growers’ organization. For more information, please visit www.flcitrusmutual.com.

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