{"id":4254,"date":"2017-10-12T14:11:42","date_gmt":"2017-10-12T18:11:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.floridacitrus.org\/newsroom\/?post_type=fdoc-news-item&p=257"},"modified":"2017-10-12T14:11:42","modified_gmt":"2017-10-12T18:11:42","slug":"first-crop-forecast-of-the-season-released-post-hurricane-irma","status":"publish","type":"fdoc-news-item","link":"https:\/\/www.floridacitrus.org\/grower\/fdoc-news-item\/first-crop-forecast-of-the-season-released-post-hurricane-irma\/","title":{"rendered":"First crop forecast of the season released post Hurricane Irma"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SEBRING, Fla.<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 In its first forecast of the 2017-18 season, the National Agriculture Statistics Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture projected a Florida Orange crop of 54 million boxes, though\u00a0doubt remains as to whether that accurately portrays the crop size after Hurricane Irma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have yet to realize the full extent of Hurricane Irma\u2019s impact on the Florida Citrus industry and today\u2019s forecast reflects that,\u201d said Ellis Hunt, a Lake Wales citrus grower and chairman of the Florida Citrus Commission. \u201cI expect we will see this number decrease even further in future crop estimates.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grower reports of damage range from 30 to 70 percent, depending on the region and where they fell in Hurricane Irma\u2019s path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thursday\u2019s\u00a0report predicts a more modest 21 percent drop in the state\u2019s orange production over last season.\u00a0The report\u00a0projected the Florida Grapefruit crop to produce\u00a04.9 million boxes, a decrease of\u00a037 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Shannon Shepp, executive director of the Florida Department of Citrus: \u201cOur growers would love to see these numbers materialize. Unfortunately, what they are seeing in real life doesn\u2019t show such promise. We do know one thing. Our growers will not stop. They will not give up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services announced earlier this week that Florida citrus sustained more than $760 million in damages. Agricultural Commissioner Adam Putnam joined Governor Rick Scott and Florida\u2019s Congressional Delegation this week in Washington D.C to discuss the recent damage caused by Hurricane Irma and to request federal assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the Florida Department of Citrus<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 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\u00a045,000 people, provides an annual economic impact of\u00a0$8.6 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\u00a0<\/em>FloridaCitrus.org<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SEBRING, Fla.\u00a0\u2013 In its first forecast of the 2017-18 season, the National Agriculture Statistics Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture projected a Florida Orange crop of 54 million boxes, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":260,"template":"","fdoc_news_item_category":[105,80,86,100,85],"fdoc_citrus_type":[110,107],"fdoc_health_category":[],"class_list":["post-4254","fdoc-news-item","type-fdoc-news-item","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","fdoc_news_item_category-crop-forecasts","fdoc_news_item_category-fdoc","fdoc_news_item_category-hurricane-irma","fdoc_news_item_category-industry","fdoc_news_item_category-weather","fdoc_citrus_type-grapefruit","fdoc_citrus_type-orange"],"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