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USDA’s ’07-’08 Orange Crop Estimate Decreases Slightly

LAKELAND, Fla. (February 8, 2008) – Florida’s 2007-2008 orange crop estimate decreased slightly to 166 million boxes, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) which today released a revised citrus forecast.

The USDA had previously pegged the orange crop at 168 million boxes.

“Despite the slight decrease this is still a good sized crop for the Florida citrus industry,” said Michael W. Sparks, executive vice president/CEO of Florida Citrus Mutual. “We are rebuilding juice inventories and growers are still getting solid prices for their fruit which is important to offset increased production costs related to pest and disease and energy prices.”

The USDA attributed the 2 million box decrease, which is comprised entirely of Valencias, to fruit drop and smaller fruit size. The 166 million boxes are made up of 77.9 million boxes of Early-Mids, 3.1 million boxes of Navels and 85 million boxes of Valencia.

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 166 million box orange crop would represent about 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 decreased 500,000 boxes to 24.5 million. Tangelos and tangerines remained unchanged at 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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