The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has released its first Florida citrus forecast of the 2010/11 campaign, with early numbers climbing on the previous year.
According to the report, Florida is expected to produce some 146m boxes of oranges through the upcoming season, an increase of nine per cent on 2009/10.
Early and mid-season varieties are projected at 69m boxes, the USDA noted, with Valencias set to come in at a total of 77m boxes.
However, the USDA predicted that Florida would harvest 20m boxes of grapefruit through 2010/11, down from the 20.3m boxes produced last season.
For Florida specialty citrus, the USDA predicted that 1.1m boxes of tangelos and 4.5m boxes of tangerines would be produced.
'We had a big bloom in the spring so we figured this crop would be larger. This number is not a surprise,' said Michael Sparks, executive vice-president and CEO of Florida Citrus Mutual. 'It does prove that despite many challenges, Florida growers continue to be the best and most efficient citrus producers.'
The USDA makes its initial Florida citrus crop forecast at the beginning of October each year, and then revises it monthly until the end of the campaign in July.
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