The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a forecast for the 2014-2015 orange season in Florida, finding it slightly below last years numbers as citrus greening remains a threat.
The Florida all-orange forecast, at 102 million boxes (4.59 million tons), is unchanged from the previous forecast but down 3 percent from last season's revised final utilization," the USDA announced on Thursday. Early, midseason, and Navel varieties in Florida are forecast at 47 million boxes (2.12 million tons), unchanged from the previous forecast but down 12 percent on last season's final utilization. The Florida Valencia orange forecast, at 55 million boxes (2.48 million tons), is unchanged from the previous forecast but up 7 percent from last season's revised final utilization.
The USDA also anticipated orange juice yields from Florida slightly decreasing from last year.
Florida frozen concentrated orange juice (FCOJ) yield forecast for the 2014-2015 season is 1.54 gallons per box at 42 degrees Brix, down 1 percent from the March forecast and down 2 percent from last season's final yield of 1.57 gallons per box, the USDA noted. The non-Valencia portion is finalized at 1.42 gallons per box, down 2 percent from last month and down 7 percent from last season's yield. The Valencia portion is projected at 1.65 gallons, unchanged from last month's forecast but up slightly from last season's final yield of 1.64 gallons per box. All projections of yield assume the processing relationships this season will be similar to those of the past several seasons.
Earlier this month, at a media event in Orlando, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the opening of $23 million in USDA grants for projects taking on Huanglongbing (HLB), better known as citrus greening.
Spread by the Asian citrus psyllid, a tiny insect, citrus greening infects trees, leading to deformed and bitter fruit. Eventually, citrus greening kills the tree. One of the few ways to fight citrus greening is by removing the tree.
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam weighed in on Thursday, saying his department will do all it can to battle citrus greening.
The updated citrus forecast of 102 million boxes is holding steady, but the future of Floridas iconic citrus industry continues to be threatened by citrus greening. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has requested $18 million this year to support research, to grow clean citrus stock and to remove and replant diseased trees. We will fight to save Floridas $10.7 billion citrus industry, and the 64,000 jobs the industry supports.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
