Florida’s struggling citrus industry could be showing signs of recovery; Last week, the USDA revised a forecast for the 2023-2024 citrus growing season by upping projections for grapefruit and specialty fruits, which are mostly tangerines and tangelos. The projection for oranges remained unchanged from the season’s initial forecast in October.
The combined projections are nearly 30 percent ahead of last season’s production, which was hammered by Hurricane Ian and a winter freeze. But the overall forecast total for 2023-2024 is just over half the production amount from the 2021-2022 season.
Also, the projected total remains closer to production in the 1930s than in the 1990s, before citrus greening began to ravage groves and development pressures exploded for land.
The new forecast said the industry remains on pace to fill 20.5 million 90-pound boxes of oranges. That compares to 15.8 million boxes during the 2022-2023 season and 41.2 million boxes during the 2021-2022 season. Most of Florida’s oranges are processed into juice.
Click here to view the USDA December forecast.
Source: news.wgcu.org