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The Florida orange crop estimate for the 2013-2014 season is down by about 12 million boxes compared with 2012-2013, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report.
The USDA's 2013-2014 forecast is for 121 million boxes, off from the 133.6 million boxes the state produced last year. That estimate is also down 3% from the USDA's initial forecast, which was released in November.
The USDA blames the decrease on smaller sizes of oranges, which stem from citrus greening disease that has impacted orange groves statewide.
“HLB continues to rear its ugly head and this decrease can be directly attributed to the stress caused by the disease,” Florida Citrus Mutual Executive Vice President and CEO Michael Sparks says in a release. “This small crop size shows how damaging HLB, or citrus greening, can be and that growers are in a fight for their lives.”
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