2024 Florida Orange Production Forecast
There’s good news for this season’s Florida orange crop. The USDA’s final citrus forecast offers an upwardly revised report for 2023-2024, increasing the agency’s volume predictions for the year’s end. Florida orange growers are ready to find the silver lining in any positive news, including a one percent production increase compared to last year.
The USDA Revises 2023-2024 Florida Orange Crop Numbers Up One Percent
Orange season in Florida starts in the fall and culminates with mid-summer harvests. The challenges facing the industry are year-round, however. Florida orange growers battle a combination of infectious diseases, natural disasters, and climate change. For an industry facing two decades of declining harvests, this year’s harvest was a positive outlier – by even conservative measures, it held steady to 2022-2023 numbers.
A recent revision from the USDA’s July citrus industry report, Florida’s orange harvest increased 1% to 18 million boxes. That’s a hard-earned (and rare) win for the nation’s number-two orange-producing state.
Florida’s Orange Production Challenges
No crop is perfectly reliable, but Florida’s orange crop was close, growing like clockwork for decades. Florida orange production enjoyed two long periods of rapid growth. From 1965 through 1975, production nearly doubled, only to face a series of freezes through the mid-1980s. Severe winters impacted production levels five times between 1975 and 2000, when the state reached an all-time high of 11 million tons.
Since 2000, crop yields have fallen year-over-year in 15 of the past 23 growing seasons, and the net decline has cut Florida’s yield production by 92%.
[Include this chart and link in implementation]Orange Crops Impacted by Disease, Natural Disasters
Infectious diseases have replaced seasonal frost as the biggest threat to Florida’s orange crops. First, citrus canker disease spread from a relatively small number of groves to more parts of the state. Initially discovered in 1910 and thought to be eradicated in the 1930s, citrus canker returned in 1995. Two hurricanes spread the disease statewide, causing the USDA to abandon its second eradication attempt in 2006.
At nearly the same time, citrus greening disease was confirmed in Florida. The insect-spread disease is nearly impossible to contain and remains incurable, despite tens of millions of dollars invested in research and treatment.
Disease and severe weather have pushed Florida into a distant second behind California in US domestic organge production. With the USDA’s revision, Florida produced nearly 18 million boxes in the most recent growing season, compared to California’s 47.5 million boxes*.
Florachem Supports Florida’s Orange Growers
As a global leader in specialty citrus ingredients, Florachem is deeply invested in the long-term success of Florida’s orange crops. We actively monitor harvest tallies, weather-related hazards, and the quality of oranges to ensure the best input materials for our products. It’s a commitment we make on behalf of orange producers in Florida and our customers worldwide. See what an obsessive attention to quality can do for your organization; contact our team today.
* Florida orange boxes weigh 90 pounds. California measures boxes at 80 pounds.