Increase in orange crop is expected
Florida will rebound from a bad citrus crop last season with a 30% increase in orange production this year, the federal government predicted.
But major orange juice makers said consumers shouldn’t expect prices to fall.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture orange forecast for Florida is 168 million boxes, each weighing 90 pounds.
Last year the state hauled 129 million boxes in its worst season since devastating freezes in the 1980s.
Florida is the nation’s leading citrus producer, but crop diseases, hurricanes and drought have crippled production in recent years. The state’s $9-billion industry routinely produced more than 200 million boxes from 1999 to 2004.
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