Florida orange and grapefruit production decreased in the May US Department of Agriculture crop forecast.
Released Friday 10 May, the report projects Florida orange production for the 2018/19 season at 72.4m boxes, a 4.1m box decrease over the previous month.
Florida grapefruit production, meanwhile, decreased 320,000 boxes to 4.58m boxes.
“Again, we see that we are not out of the woods yet in terms of recovery,” said Shannon Shepp, executive director of the Florida Department of Citrus. “As growers continue to work toward increased productivity, we continue to support their efforts through the marketing of delicious and nutritious Florida Citrus.”
The numbers remain an increase from the previous season, devastated by Hurricane Irma, when production dropped to 45.05m boxes of Florida oranges and 3.88m boxes of Florida grapefruit.
