Private consultant Elizabeth Steger on Aug. 16 forecast Florida will produce 52 million boxes of oranges in the 2021-22 season — 1.5% less than the 52.8 million boxes produced in 2020-21.
Steger projected 20.8 million boxes of early-midseason oranges; that’s less than the 22.7 million boxes produced last season. Her Valencia projection is 31.2 million boxes; that’s more than the 30.1 million boxes produced last season.
She estimated early/mid-season oranges and Valencias will yield 1.09 and 1.03 boxes per tree, respectively. “I was hoping for a good rebound in the fruit-per-tree production, but it did not happen, especially in the Central region where there was a significant fruit-per-tree reduction,” she wrote.
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