Forecasters Slice More From Latest Citrus Crop Estimates

Posted by Paul Rusnak|May 14, 2020

In the face of the novel coronavirus and continued HLB pressure, the 2019-2020 citrus season in Florida continues to push toward the finish line. The latest figures from USDA forecasters show another dip in crop estimates for oranges and grapefruit.

The government agency’s May report predicts the state’s overall orange production at 69.65 million boxes (29.65 boxes of early and mid-season varieties plus 40 million Valencia). This represents a 350,000 box decrease from last month’s forecast. Florida grapefruit production also was downsized from 5.2 million boxes to 4.9 million boxes for the 2019-2020 season. The slight reductions have been trending the last few months.

For reference, the overall orange tally last season was a little more than 71 million boxes. Grapefruit finished at about 4.5 million boxes. Drought conditions across parts of the state have not helped trees already under stress from HLB.

Industry stakeholders like Shannon Shepp, Executive Director of the Florida Department of Citrus, are looking to finish out this season on a positive note. “We remain hopeful that the Valencia production will stay on par with current projections.”

The next to last citrus crop report for the 2019-2020 season is scheduled to release June 11.