Florida orange crops holding steady
“In the past couple of seasons we’ve seen dramatic drops in the estimate during the early months following the October forecast,” said Shannon Shepp, executive director of the Florida Department of Citrus.
The state’s citrus industry has been hurt by the citrus greening epidemic. The incurable disease has been attacking fruit, causing it to turn green and bitter, and eventually killing the tree. Florida’s famous oranges are most at risk and have been for some time now. New, tougher varieties are hoped to increase production levels in Florida back to their previous state before the epidemic caused yearly drops in yields.
source: floridapolitics.com
