OJ crop down 16 percent from last year

Ledger staff
Published: Tuesday, July 12, 2016 at 6:25 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, July 12, 2016 at 6:25 p.m.

WINTER HAVEN — The 2015-16 Florida orange crop finished at 81.5 million boxes, up 2 percent from the initial U.S. Department of Agriculture forecast in October but a 16 percent drop from the 2014-15 crop, according to the department’s final monthly report on Tuesday.

Late-season Valencia oranges totaled 45.4 million boxes, up 100,000 boxes from June, while early and mid-season oranges finished at 36.1 million boxes. Florida juice processors squeezed an average 1.4 gallons of frozen concentrated orange juice from this season’s crop, down from 1.5 gallons last season. The state’s 2015-16 grapefruit harvest ended with 10.85 million boxes, down 16 percent from last season, while tangerines totaled 1.43 million boxes, a 37-percent plunge from a year ago.

USDA put the final tangelo crop at 390,000 boxes, a 41-percent dive from last season. “The USDA report puts a bow on the 2015-2016 season and it is pretty much what we expected after hearing from the field,” said Michael Sparks, chief executive at Florida Citrus Mutual, the Lakeland-based growers’ trade group. “This season marked another challenging year for Florida citrus growers who even under the toughest circumstances always produce the best citrus in the world.”