Last week, USDA trimmed Florida early-midseason orange production by 350,000 90-lb boxes but held projected Valencia production at 40.0 million boxes.

As of May 3, growers had harvested nearly 30.9 million boxes of Florida Valencias, or 77 percent of the forecast. Harvest pace tends to drop off pretty steeply during May—last season’s significant box counts into June were unusual—and it may be a stretch to harvest another 9+ million boxes.

USDA lowered 2019/20 Florida grapefruit production by 300,000 85-lb boxes: Red grapefruit production is now estimated at 4.1 million boxes and white grapefruit at 800,000 boxes. While these numbers are down from higher expectations earlier in the season, they still represent an increase over production during the previous two seasons.

Florida Valencia orange harvest pace, by season

Source: USDA
Posted by: Information Services
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