The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued its initial Florida citrus crop forecast on Friday 8 November, pegging the 2013/14 orange crop at 125m boxes, down 6 per cent from last season.
The USDA estimated early-mid varietiesat 58m boxes, down from 67.1m at the end of last season,while theValencia orange total stood at67m boxes compared to 66.5m in 2012/13.
'The number shows HLB (citrus greening disease) continues to affect our industry and growers are faced once again with a challenging season,' said Michael Sparks, executive vice-president and CEO of Florida Citrus Mutual. 'The good news is thatat this size crop,there should be upward pressure on prices.'
The USDA usually makes its initial estimate in October of each year and revises it monthly as the crop takes shape until the end of the season in July. However, the federal government shutdown delayed the estimate until 8 November.
During the 2012/13 season, Florida produced 133.6m boxes of oranges.
The estimate for the 2013/14 Florida grapefruit crop, meanwhile, came in at 17.8m boxes, down from 18.35m last year, while specialty fruit checked in at4.75m boxes.
