Producers of hurricane-hit and disease-ravaged citrus in Florida are still hopeful of a better season compared with last year - despite losing nearly half their grapefruit crop to Wilma.
According to figures from farmer group Florida Citrus Mutual, the hurricane slashed the crop by 47 per cent or 11.3 million boxes. The news comes as a blow to the sector, which was hoping to recover lost ground after last year.
Andrew Meadows, public affairs manager for the Florida Department of Citrus, said: “We were expecting to rebound strongly from 2004, when we had three hurricanes, but now volumes are going to be close to last year, give or take a million boxes or so.”
He said despite this, the sector remained confident and expects the remaining fruit to size up well. Another positive sign is the lack of permanent damage. “We don’t think we have any long-term tree damage that will affect the coming years.”
Meadows said the hurricanes, combined with the threats posed by diseases such as citrus canker and citrus greening - for which there is no known cure or treatment - are leaving some producers considering their future. The damage to the total citrus crop means the FDOC marketing budget is likely to be slashed by $3.7m to $56.3m, Meadows said.
Meanwhile, the Florida Citrus Commission has decided to relax maturity standards for both grapefruit and oranges for juice by 10 per cent. The move is designed to help growers who have been hit hard by the hurricanes this season, but will not have any “perceptible effect whatsoever on the juice consumers receive,” the FCC said in a statement. The temporary changes are in effect until December 1.
