National Agricultural Statistics Service<\/a>\u00a0of the U.S. Department of Agriculture projected a slight decrease in the Florida Orange crop to 71 million boxes for the 2016-17 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe\u00a0report\u00a0also projects a slight decrease in the state\u2019s grapefruit production to 9 million boxes. Despite the decrease in Florida Oranges, today\u2019s crop size projection remains above the 70 million boxes\u00a0the USDA initially estimated in October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Shannon Shepp, executive director of the Florida Department of Citrus: \u201cThese are the slight fluctuations this industry is accustomed to historically in a season. We see this as a positive sign that we are gaining ground on HLB and getting closer to a stabilized industry. We continue to see growers invest in the future of Florida Citrus by putting new trees in the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The FDOC, which is partially funded by box taxes paid by the state\u2019s citrus growers, serves as the chief marketing and promotion arm for the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About the Florida Department of Citrus<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Florida Department of Citrus is an executive agency of Florida government charged with the marketing, research and regulation of the Florida citrus industry.\u00a0 Its activities are funded by a tax paid by growers on each box of citrus that moves through commercial channels.\u00a0 The industry employs nearly 62,000 people, provides an annual economic impact of nearly $10.7 billion to the state, and contributes hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenues that help support Florida\u2019s schools, roads and health care services. For more information about the Florida Department of Citrus, please visit FloridaCitrus.org.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The USDA forecasts 71 million boxes of Florida Oranges, 9 million boxes Florida Grapefruit BARTOW, Fla.\u00a0\u2013\u00a0In its first forecast of 2017, the\u00a0National Agricultural Statistics Service\u00a0of the U.S. Department of Agriculture […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":146,"template":"","fdoc_news_item_category":[105,101],"fdoc_citrus_type":[107,108],"fdoc_health_category":[],"class_list":["post-4237","fdoc-news-item","type-fdoc-news-item","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","fdoc_news_item_category-crop-forecasts","fdoc_news_item_category-orange-production","fdoc_citrus_type-orange","fdoc_citrus_type-orange-juice"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t