Is California the New King of Citrus Production? Final Season Tallies Are In
July 14, 2021 HLB has a stranglehold on Florida citrus. That might be one of the biggest understatements for industry stakeholders. Production numbers have been telling the story better than anyone for more than 15 years as the plant disease has spread. Now as the 2020-2021 season officially comes to an end, all-orange production figures are up slightly from last month’s estimate. That’s the good news. But was the bump enough for the Sunshine State to keep its crown in annual domestic orange production?
According to USDA, Florida’s final tally for 2020-2021 is 52.8 million boxes of oranges (22.7 million boxes of early, mid-season varieties plus 30.1 million boxes of Valencia). The total is up 100,000 boxes from last month, a bit off from the season’s initial estimate of 57 million boxes, and down from last season’s total of 67.4 million boxes. The report also shows California’s all-orange estimate for July is 54.5 million boxes.
One thing to keep in mind when comparing, net pounds per box for California is 80 vs. 90 for Florida. Another is that HLB has yet to become an issue for California commercial citrus growers. Though the Asian citrus psyllid (HLB’s vector) as well as the disease has been identified in residential areas of the state.
Meanwhile, Florida growers continue the fight and adjustments to life with HLB while looking up at orange production numbers from what seems a lifetime ago. The 1997-1998 season was a record at 244 million boxes.
Back in April, USDA citrus crop estimates were indicating a close race between the Sunshine State and Golden State. We even posed a reader poll question: Do you believe California outproducing Florida in orange production will become more common due to citrus greening? 73% of respondents voted yes.
Florida grapefruit finished at 4.1 million boxes, not far from the season’s initial estimate of 4.5 million boxes.
The first USDA citrus crop forecast of the 2021-2022 season is scheduled to release on Oct. 12, 2021.
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