Hurricanes and citrus greening disease leave a lasting impact on Florida oranges

USDA has risen its Florida orange forecast by 100,000 boxes compared to it February forecast, but it still remains 35% below last year’s final production numbers.

USDA now predicts that this season’s totals will reach 11.6 million boxes, the majority of which are made up by Valencia oranges. The year-over-year decline is part of a larger trend, which has been largely caused by hurricanes.

According to Mark Hudson with USDA NASS, “It’s even lower than the hurricane season of two years ago, when you look at 11.6 for all oranges compared to just two seasons ago when it was 15.82 million boxes. And even with— during Irma, Irma was 45 million boxes, compared to 11 million boxes, but you can understand we have less trees and also, the yields are not as high.”

Hudson says that he blames lower yields on citrus green disease, which has now been discovered across most of the state of Florida.

Related Stories
Strong demand supports sweet potatoes, but grading challenges and rising costs weigh on returns for Southeastern growers.
Pressure on grain storage capacity and stronger export positioning are pushing more grain onto railroads, highways, and river systems as logistics become a key bottleneck this fall.
The Cotton-4 are pushing hard for new value chain investments. Still, many U.S. cotton producers face unsustainable losses, and weakened regional textile capacity threatens the survival of the Carolina “dirt-to-shirt” supply chain.
Tryston Beyrer, Crop Nutrition Lead at The Mosaic Company, examines planning trends as producers weigh corn and soybean plantings for 2026.
Brooks York with AgriSompo joins us to offer an update on what agents are prioritizing as the calendar year winds down.
Despite the need for swift action, many ag lawmakers and industry groups argue that farm aid alone will likely not be sufficient to help farmers without improved trade relations with China.

Agriculture Shows
Crop yield champions David Hula from Virginia and Randy Dowdy from Georgia are back for another season with the aim of schooling more growers across the country in their winning ways.
“Texas Agriculture Matters” is a fun, informative look at the role of agriculture in our daily lives. The show utilizes the trademark wit and wisdom of its host Commissioner Sid Miller — an 8th-generation farmer-rancher and 12-time World Champion rodeo cowboy — to explore a new Texas ag-related topic each week.
From barnyards and back roads to metros and highways, Simply Southern TV on RFD-TV explores all of Alabama to bring you the best stories on farming, gardening, forestry, rural living, and youth in agriculture.
In the first week of each month, “Down Home Virginia,” produced by the Virginia Farm Bureau, airs its half-hour program. Other states’ Farm Bureaus featured on different weeks include Texas, Arkansas, Indiana, Illinois, Tennessee, Idaho, and New York, and news from the American Farm Bureau from Washington, D.C.
Created by former Louisiana Farm Bureau PR Director and former host Regnal Wallace, “This Week in Louisiana Agriculture,” is one of the state’s longest-running TV programs.