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Florida's overall orange estimate drops slightly

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The Associated Press

Published: April 9, 2009

LAKELAND - Florida's overall orange crop estimate is down by about 400,000 boxes.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reduced on Thursday its forecast to 157.6 million boxes for the season that stretches from October to July. That's down from March's estimate of 158 million boxes.

The forecast for the Valencia crop remained unchanged at an estimated 73 million boxes this season. Each box weighs about 90 pounds.

More than 170 million boxes of oranges were harvested in Florida during the last growing season.

Florida is the nation's largest orange producer and grows about three-quarters of the U.S. crop. About 90 percent of the state's fruit is used to make orange juice.

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