BARTOW, Fla. — In the first USDA forecast of the 2022 – 2023 citrus season, the USDA projected production at 28 million boxes of Florida Oranges, 2 million boxes of Florida Grapefruit and 700,000 boxes of Florida Specialty Citrus.
The crop forecast released on October 12, 2022, was a decrease from the previous season and was released two weeks after Hurricane Ian impacted the State of Florida.
“Hurricane Ian hit Florida citrus growers on many levels – their groves, their homes, their communities – all in the path of destruction,” said Shannon Shepp, Executive Director of the Florida Department of Citrus. “Growers approached this season with optimism for good reason. Innovations in greening therapies and the discovery of trees that show signs of natural resistance/tolerance to the disease are teed up for deployment. The hurricane is a setback, for sure, but we’ve done this before. We’ll have a lot of help, we know that. On the other side of storm recovery is an industry ready to take a clear set of new tools and do what they really want to do – rebuild, recover from greening.”
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About the Florida Department of Citrus
The Florida Department of Citrus is an executive agency of the Florida government charged with the marketing, research, and regulation of the Florida citrus industry. Its activities are funded by a tax paid by growers on each box of citrus that moves through commercial channels. The industry employs more than 33,000 people, provides an annual economic impact of $6.762 billion to the state, and contributes hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenues that help support Florida’s schools, roads, and health care services. For more information about the Florida Department of Citrus, visit FloridaCitrus.org/newsroom.
–Florida Department of Citrus