US (FL): Price of oranges creeping up

Cold weather in Florida and a fungicide from Brazil are driving orange juice prices to record high levels. We talked to a local growers association about the rising cost of OJ. When word go out that the FDA detected low levels of fungicide in orange juice from Brazil, fears forced orange juice futures to jump 11-percent, closing at nearly $2.08 a pound Tuesday. But now as we wait for more details from the government, futures are falling to just under $2.00 a pound. But it seems higher prices for OJ might be here to stay for a while. Wednesday, we spoke with Barbara Carlton, Executive Director from the Peace River Valley Citrus Grower's Association. She says right now, inventories of Florida's cash crop are low. Brazil is the number one orange juice producer in the world, and with no juice coming in from the South American country, Florida could have to make up that loss.

"When you get less of something, it tends to bump up the cost - basic economics. So anytime that balance gets out, it's not good for anyone. It's not good for the growers, not good for the processor and not good for the consumer," Carlton said. The Florida orange crop is still recovering from a few years ago when disease hurt orange inventory levels. Ever since then, Carlton says, prices have been slowly creeping up. She says the prices are still hard to calculate because they won't get a final number on how this year's production levels are until the season is over in June. But she says if inventory remains low, then you can expect prices to remain high.

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