Citrus Estimates Tick Up

Florida’s struggling citrus industry got a little good news Tuesday with increased production estimates for the current growing season. While the industry still faces a historically low harvest, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a report that estimated Florida will produce enough oranges to fill 11.6 million 90-pound boxes. That was up from a February forecast of 11.5 million boxes.

Also, Tuesday’s report estimated Florida growers will fill 1.2 million boxes of grapefruit, up from a 1.1 million estimate in February. Estimates for lemons, at 600,000 boxes, and tangerines and mandarins, at 350,000 boxes, remained unchanged from February. The overall forecast increased 1.5 percent from the February estimates, but it was 18 percent lower than an initial forecast for the season in October. This year’s estimates also are nearly 32 percent lower than the 2023-2024 yield, which itself represented a nine-decade low. Growers have been hammered by deadly citrus greening disease and hurricanes, while also facing development pressure.