The May Florida citrus crop forecast from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA NASS) saw some ups and downs.
FLORIDA ORANGES
The Florida 2022–23 all-orange forecast declined 3%, from 16.1 million boxes in the April forecast to 15.65 million boxes in May. If the forecast is realized, this will be 62% less orange production than last season.
Florida non-Valencia orange production rose 1% to 6.15 million boxes, while the state’s Valencia production fell 5% to 9.5 million boxes. The Navel forecast, included in the non-Valencia portion of the forecast, is 4% of the non-Valencia total. A row count survey conducted in late April indicated that 98% of the Valencia rows are harvested.
FLORIDA GRAPEFRUIT
The news was a bit better for Florida’s all-grapefruit crop. It rose 6% since April to a total of 1.8 million boxes. Red grapefruit inched up from 1.52 million boxes to 1.56 million boxes. White grapefruit saw a nice bump from 180,000 boxes to 240,000 boxes.
UNCHANGED CROPS
The forecast for Florida tangerines and tangelos remained at 500,000 boxes.
All USDA NASS May citrus forecasts for Arizona, California and Texas were unchanged from April.
See the full citrus forecast report here.
Hear the Florida citrus crop forecast:
Hear the complete U.S. citrus crop forecast:
The next update to the USDA NASS citrus crop forecast will be on June 9 at approximately 12:00 p.m. on the Citrus Industry website.
Coverage of the USDA NASS citrus crop forecast is brought to you by Farm Credit and Florida Citrus Mutual.
Source: USDA NASS