USA: Significant decline in Florida citrus production estimates for the 2024-2025 campaign

The USDA's forecast for the 2024-2025 citrus season predicts a significant drop in Florida's citrus production, with estimates of 15 million boxes of oranges, 1.4 million boxes of grapefruit, and 200,000 boxes of mandarins and tangelos. This marks a decrease of nearly 3 million boxes from the previous season, not accounting for the recent damage from Hurricane Milton. The hurricane has worsened the situation for Florida's citrus growers, who are already dealing with citrus greening and the aftermath of past hurricanes. The full impact of the storm is still being evaluated, and future forecasts are expected to reflect the damage. Current production levels are a small fraction of the industry's peak in the 1990s, underscoring the need for ongoing support and initiatives to rejuvenate Florida's citrus industry.

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its initial citrus crop forecast for the 2024-2025 season. The current USDA estimate does not reflect the damage inflicted by Hurricane Milton on central and southern Florida early last week. The federal agency projects production of 15 million boxes of oranges this season. It also estimates 1.4 million boxes of grapefruit and 200,000 boxes of mandarins and tangelos. The 15 million box forecast is nearly 3 million boxes less than Florida's total citrus production during the 2023-2024 season, which was 17.96 million boxes. "The outlook for the season is extremely grim. Before Hurricane Milton tore through Florida's citrus belt, growers were optimistic about the health of their groves and hopeful about the prospect of a fruitful season. After years of battling citrus greening and trying to recover from Hurricane Ian two years ago, we were starting to see tree health and blooms improve with in-field treatments and ...