January's USDA California crop production report forecasts this season's navel orange crop at 88 million cartons. The figure represents an 8% drop from last season's crop. The report also mentions that, despite freezing temperatures in December, there has been no serious frost damage.
In addition to lower volume, sizing appears to be running smaller than in previous years.
“Sizes are not as big as we projected them to be,” says Jesse Silva of the Sunwest Fruit Company.
“Our yields have been roughly similar to previous years, but sizes are not as big.”
Quality of fruit, however, appears to be good.
“We're seeing better quality than last year,” says Dan Kass of Paramount Citrus.
“Pricing is manageable, sizes are a little smaller than last year, but we're not seeing a major shortage in quantity.”
Silva agrees that, despite smaller sizes, quality of fruit has improved.
“Sugars are very high in the fruit,” he says, “and the quality looks good.”