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Development, hurricanes put squeeze on citrus acreage

The absence of storms this year means Florida's juice production may rebound.

By Times wires
Published September 21, 2007

Florida, the world's second-largest orange grower, lost 3.8 percent of its citrus acreage in the past year to storm damage, disease and urban development, a government study showed.

The amount of land dedicated to citrus groves fell to 554,400 acres, or 224,358 hectares, in Florida this season, the fewest since 1990, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Thursday in a survey. Florida grows 70 percent of the United States' citrus fruit.

Farmers are selling acres to real-estate developers as land values rise, analysts have said. Hurricanes in 2004 and 2005 reduced Florida's production to a 17-year low of 129-million boxes in the season that ended in June.

Orange juice for November delivery rose 2.3 cents, or 1.9 percent, to $1.264 a pound on the New York Board of Trade. The price has fallen 36 percent this year, partly because of speculation that output in Florida may rebound in the absence of hurricanes.

Total U.S. production of oranges, grapefruit, lemons and other citrus fruit dropped 13 percent from last season to 10.3-million tons, the USDA said. The value of the U.S. crop rose 8 percent to $2.95-billion.

California accounts for 25 percent of U.S. citrus production and Texas and Arizona produce the remaining 5 percent, the department said. Brazil is the world's biggest orange grower.

[Last modified September 20, 2007, 23:30:23]