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USDA Lowers Estimate For Florida's Orange Crop

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By RUSSELL RAY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 11, 2008

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said today that Florida's orange crop may be smaller than expected.

The USDA reduced its estimate for the 2008-09 season by 1 million boxes, to 165 million.

Growers are hoping the reduced estimate increases orange juice prices, which would help an industry being hammered by citrus disease and skyrocketing production costs, said Michael Sparks, chief executive officer of Florida Citrus Mutual, a growers' organization.

"Florida citrus growers need higher returns to handle increased production costs due, in part, to unprecedented disease pressures and high input prices," Sparks said.

Florida's $9.3 billion citrus industry employs 76,000 people and covers more than 576,000 acres, which is down 11 percent from 2006.

Reporter Russell Ray can be reached at (813) 259-7870 or rray@tampatrib.com.

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