USDA to buy $20M surplus OJ
Florida Citrus Mutual in Lakeland, the citrus growers' trade group, announced the purchase earlier this week. The USDA will make the purchase through its Section 32 program, which supplies the agency's food programs, such as school lunches, while improving farmers' purchasing power, said Mike Sparks, Citrus Mutual chief executive, in a statement to roughly 6,000 members.
“We believe the current $20 million OJ purchase is the initial buy in what should be a series of purchases over the next few years to help alleviate inventories,” Sparks told members. “Clearly this will have a positive effect on grower returns.”
The purchase will be made with program money remaining in its 2014-15 budget year, which ends Sept. 30.
Citrus Mutual last month asked U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to purchase $100 million of juice a year in each of the next five years under the Section 32 program, Sparks said. It asked the USDA for a preference toward 100 percent Florida orange juice, but products from California or Texas also would qualify.
Florida provides the U.S. market with more than 75 percent of the OJ consumed annually.
Retail OJ sales have fallen for 13 of the past 14 citrus seasons, which begin in October, according to statistics from the Florida Department of Citrus in Bartow. The 2014-15 season has been one of the worst for OJ sales during that stretch, falling at a seasonal rate of 7.3 percent through Aug. 1.
Visit www.flcitrusmutual.com for more information.