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Florida's latest orange crop 4% larger than last season's

Orlando Sentinel – July 12, 2011

Florida’s latest orange harvest came in 4 percent larger than last year’s crop, according to the final forecast of the 2010-11 season by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The USDA reduced its estimate for this year’s crop by 1 million boxes to 139 million boxes. Valencia oranges accounted for the drop in the July forecast.

“This has really been a successful season for Florida citrus growers,” said Michael W. Sparks, executive vice president of Florida Citrus Mutual, the state’s largest growers group. “With all the challenges we faced, from cold weather to pest and disease to the drought conditions, the quality of the 2010-2011 crop shows how skilled the Florida citrus grower is at producing their product.”

The final USDA estimate for this year’s grapefruit crop remained unchanged at 19.9 million boxes, down a bit from last season’s 20.3 million-box harvest. For Florida specialty fruit, the tangelo estimate remained at 1.15 million boxes, and the tangerine forecast remained at 4.6 million boxes.

The all-variety yield for frozen-concentrated orange juice decreased from 1.59 gallons per 90-pound box in the final estimate to 1.58 gallons. The Valencia yield decreased from 1.68 gallons per box to 1.66 gallons per box.

The Florida citrus industry employs nearly 76,000 people, with growers tending groves covering about 560,000 acres combined.

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