Grapefruit

The top US citrus producing states have had their first official citrus forecast by the US Department of Agriculture for the season, which has pegged yield drops almost across the board.

The 10 October forecast predicts Florida orange production will be down 2.5 per cent on last year to 166m cartons, according to The Packer.com.

The state’s grapefruit production will drop 13.5 per cent to 26.6m cartons, and tangerine production will be down 11 per cent to 4.9m cartons.

Production rises are predicted in Florida navel oranges, California tangerines and Arizona grapefruit.

Lemons from California and Arizona are also expected to rise by 14 per cent over last season.

Total US citrus output is expected to be 280.2m cartons, a drop of about 9.5 per cent on last year’s 307m cartons.