BARTOW – The National Agricultural Statistics Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture projected a decrease for Florida Orange and Grapefruit production, in an announcement Thursday.
The USDA predicted Florida Orange production at 67.65 million boxes, a 2 million box decrease over May’s forecast. Florida Grapefruit production decreased slightly from 4.9 to 4.89 million boxes for the 2019-20 season but remained above the 4.51 million boxes produced in 2018-19. Florida Specialty Citrus remained stable at 1.02 million boxes, an increase over the previous season that ended at 990,000 boxes.
“This forecast reflects the natural fluctuations we would expect over the course of a season and contributes to a multi-year trend indicating growers continue to make strides against citrus greening. We are encouraged by year-over-year increases in both grapefruit and specialty citrus production and hope to see similar stability or gains in the orange category soon,” said Shannon Shepp, executive director of the Florida Department of Citrus.
About the Florida Department of Citrus
The Florida Department of Citrus is an executive agency of Florida government charged with the marketing, research and regulation of the Florida citrus industry. Its activities are funded by a tax paid by growers on each box of citrus that moves through commercial channels. The industry employs 50,000 people, provides an annual economic impact of $7.2 billion to the state, and contributes hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenues that help support Florida’s schools, roads and health care services. For more information about the Florida Department of Citrus, please visit FloridaCitrus.org.
