Experts forecasted a decline in the number of harvested boxes of oranges back in August 2020. Official end-of-the-year numbers from the USDA published in December have confirmed their fears: Orange production for the entire country was down 11.8% for the year.
In California, the harvest was down 5.3%. In Texas, it went up 12.3%, but the state only produced 64,000 tons compared to California's 2,020,000. In Florida, orange production was down 16.8%, and the low numbers continue to worry industry experts.
"In general, as a grower in the state, we all have concerns about the industry," Louis Schacht, a third-generation citrus grower with a grove near Florida's Atlantic coast, stated. "A lot of growers just didn't have the money to put into their crop for this season, so a lot of your production will be down because of that this year."
Source: eatthis.com
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