The $815.9 million preliminary on-tree value of the 2002-03 citrus crop, the lowest since 1985-86, is down almost 16 percent from the 2001-02 season's revised value of $966.8 million which increased by 10 percent with revisions to the processed portion. Production fell for most fruit types this season with total production down nearly 13 percent. Only three of the smaller crops--tangelos, Honey tangerines, and lemons--recorded gains in production and value. Estimates for K-Early Citrus Fruit and limes were discontinued following the 2001-02 season.

  The orange crop, down 12 percent from the previous season, is the smallest since 1998-99. Early- midseason-Navel production is down 13 percent while the Valencia crop is down 11 percent. Reduction in Navels was slight and this crop is near the average of recent seasons. Over 70 percent of the Navels were shipped fresh and the higher fresh price resulted in an increase in the value of production. However, 97 percent of the early-midseason and Valencia oranges were processed and, with the lower processed prices, values fell.

  Grapefruit production is down 17 percent from last season and is the smallest crop since the freeze- affected season of 1989-90. The white crop, which includes seedy fruit, is the least in the series and less than the white seedless crops for the past 34 seasons. Colored grapefruit is down 19 percent from the previous season and 29 percent from the record 31.9 million box crop of 1999-2000. Lower processed prices offset the higher fresh prices and the average price per box and value of production is down for grapefruit.

  Average on-tree prices are higher for Temples, tangelos, lemons, early tangerines, and all tangerines. Only Honey tangerines, primarily shipped fresh, which have the second lowest fresh price in 20 years, have a lower average price per box. Although the early tangerine price is up, production and value are lower. Tangelo production showed a 9 percent gain and is the largest crop since 1998-99. The Temple crop is down 16 percent and is only 4 percent larger than the record low crop of 2000-01. The lemon crop rebounded with a much higher price and the value is the highest since 1991.

  Prices for the 2002-03 season are preliminary and will be revised next September when the results of all participation plans and pools become final. Revised prices are shown for 2001-02. The table on page 8 shows a breakdown of citrus prices for all fruit types by usage for 2002-03 and the two previous seasons.

Florida Citrus: Production by counties, areas, and types, 2002-2003
County and Area	All Citrus 1/	Round Oranges			Grapefruit
		Early and Midseason	Late (Valencia)	All	White 2/	Colored	All
	1,000 boxes
Brevard	1,752	803	492	1,295	143	215	358
Charlotte	6,066	1,666	2,802	4,468	79	1,330	1,409
Collier	10,159	4,698	4,765	9,463	59	443	502
DeSoto	23,378	10,611	11,828	22,439	289	218	507
Glades	3,398	2,009	1,216	3,225	7	95	102
Hardee	17,485	12,069	4,695	16,764	90	214	304
Hendry	29,290	12,124	13,908	26,032	1,008	1,615	2,623
Hernando	353	335	6	341	1	2	3
Highlands	29,331	11,775	14,945	26,720	958	499	1,457
Hillsborough	7,952	5,742	1,601	7,343	63	187	250
Indian River	14,807	2,938	2,116	5,054	4,406	5,039	9,445
Lake	6,156	4,219	881	5,100	52	426	478
Lee	3,238	1,235	1,563	2,798	58	335	393
Manatee	7,646	4,378	2,676	7,054	212	184	396
Marion	365	283	41	324	2	17	19
Martin	11,342	3,900	5,877	9,777	1,082	297	1,379
Okeechobee	3,556	1,914	1,026	2,940	262	273	535
Orange	2,337	1,373	729	2,102	7	60	67
Osceola	5,691	3,356	1,339	4,695	411	417	828
Palm Beach	2,281	971	396	1,367	242	312	554
Pasco	3,770	2,967	648	3,615	16	61	77
Polk	36,620	18,301	12,379	30,680	1,690	1,721	3,411
St. Lucie	22,307	3,517	4,747	8,264	4,995	8,290	13,285
Sarasota	692	195	199	394	44	197	241
Seminole	411	289	79	368	-	9	9
Volusia	350	245	36	281	22	36	58
Other 4/	117	87	10	97	2	8	10
Total	250,850	112,000	91,000	203,000	16,200	22,500	38,700
Indian River	41,330	7,500	8,500	16,000	10,200	13,900	24,100
Northern	13,702	9,731	2,405	12,136	79	587	666
Central	71,133	33,069	28,595	61,664	3,021	2,613	5,634
Western	57,166	33,000	21,000	54,000	700	1,000	1,700
Southern	67,519	28,700	30,500	59,200	2,200	4,400	6,600
Total	250,850	112,000	91,000	203,000	16,200	22,500	38,700
1/ Excludes limes and lemons. 2/ Includes seedy grapefruit. 3/ Fallglo and Sunburst varieties. 4/ Alachua, Broward, Citrus, Pinellas, and Putnam.

PRODUCTION BY COUNTIES

  Total citrus production (excluding limes and lemons) declined by almost 13 percent in the 2002-03 season. Decreases by area ranged from a low of 7 percent in the Central area to a high of 22 percent in the Indian River. Over three-fourths of the harvest came from the Central, Western, and Southern areas. Production by Marketing District is distributed as follows: Indian River, 41.3 million boxes, 16 percent; Gulf, 52.2 million boxes, 21 percent; and SunRidge, 157.4 million boxes, 63 percent.

  Production declined in every county except Seminole, where increases in oranges and grapefruit offset decreases in tangerines and tangelos. Polk leads in total production with 36.62 million boxes. Highlands, with 29.33 million boxes, narrowly edged ahead of Hendry with 29.29 million boxes. DeSoto and St. Lucie complete the top five counties which for 56 percent of the production.
  Late (Valencia) oranges account for 45 percent of the orange crop with early, midseason, and Navel varieites constituting the remainder. Highlands, Hendry, and DeSoto follow Polk in total orange production, however Polk follows Highlands and Hendry in production of Valencias.

  St. Lucie (13.3 million boxes) remains the top grapefruit producer with over one-third of the State's crop. Indian River (9.4 million boxes) contributes nearly one-fourth of the total. Polk and Hendry are the top producers outside the Indian River District. White grapefruit comprised 42 percent of the crop while the colored varieties totaled 58 percent.

  The specialty crops--tangerines, Temples, and tangelos--are concentrated in the ridge counties of Polk, Highlands, Hendry, Lake, and Glades, and in St. Lucie on the East Coast. Polk leads in production of tangelos and both tangerine categories. Highlands is the top producer of Temples and St. Lucie ranks second in Temple and tangelo production.

  Estimates of county production are prepared from objective survey data used in forecasting citrus crop production. The apportionment of final harvest to the counties is based on bearing trees from the biennial Commercial Citrus Inventory; the limb count survey, which provides an estimate of the average fruit per tree; and the drop and size surveys, which provide estimates of the amount of fruit on the tree available at harvest and the size of the fruit at that time. The size of the samples used in these surveys and the distribution of the sample groves around the state are chosen to minimize the error in the estimates of production and are not to be considered as accurate for the counties as at the state or area level.

BOXES OF FRUIT PER TREE

  The Florida Agricultural Statistics Service conducts objective surveys to determine fruit per tree, average sizes, and droppage between August and maturity. These data are used to estimate production per tree for each of four types of citrus fruit, as shown in the following tables.

  The estimates of production per tree are based on official end-of-season production estimates and the number of bearing trees indicated by the citrus tree inventory surveys. The averagesof boxes per tree for age groups shown are calculated from estimates of fruit per tree in August, size at maturity, and drop between August and maturity.

  Additionally, the boxes are subdivided by production areas. Estimated boxes by types and age groups are weighted averages of the indicated seasons. Small sample sizes in some age/area cells and rounding may contribute to inconsistent averages.

Florida Citrus: Estimated boxes of fruit per tree by age groups and production areas, 1998-99 through 2002-03
Fruit type and season	Area	Age of trees					Average, weighted by bearing trees
		3 - 5 years	6 - 8 years	9 - 13 years	14 - 23 years	24 years and older
		Boxes per tree
Early and Midseason Oranges: (Includes Navels)
1998-99	State	0.8	1.9	2.9	3.8	4.2	2.79
	Indian River	0.4	1.4	2.1	2.5	2.7	2.05
	Northern & Central	1.1	2.0	2.6	4.8	4.6	2.78
	Western	0.8	2.2	3.4	4.2	4.9	3.48
	Southern	0.6	1.8	2.8	3.3	3.6	2.48
1999-00	State	0.9	2.1	3.4	4.7	5.2	3.45
	Indian River	0.5	1.9	2.1	2.4	3.0	2.22
	Northern & Central	1.0	2.3	3.9	5.3	7.4	3.90
	Western	0.7	1.9	3.9	5.4	5.6	4.15
	Southern	1.1	2.0	2.7	4.3	4.0	2.82
2000-01	State	1.0	2.0	3.2	4.2	4.6	3.33
	Indian River	0.8	1.3	1.8	2.5	2.8	2.08
	Northern & Central	1.4	2.4	3.2	5.0	5.0	3.56
	Western	0.8	1.7	3.3	4.2	5.4	3.71
	Southern	0.9	2.0	3.3	4.2	4.4	3.23
2001-02	State	1.4	1.8	3.0	4.2	5.2	3.50
	Indian River	0.8	1.4	1.8	3.0	3.5	2.44
	Northern & Central	0.9	2.2	3.4	4.9	6.5	3.95
	Western	2.2	1.7	3.2	4.7	5.6	4.10
	Southern	1.2	1.6	2.8	3.3	4.2	2.82
2002-03	State	0.7	1.8	2.7	3.8	4.3	3.08
	Indian River	0.5	1.3	1.8	2.2	2.5	1.92
	Northern & Central	0.7	2.1	3.1	4.2	5.8	3.57
	Western	0.6	1.4	2.5	4.0	4.6	3.31
	Southern	0.8	2.0	2.6	3.5	3.4	2.74
Average	State	0.92	1.96	3.04	4.09	4.70	3.23
	Indian River	0.59	1.50	1.94	2.51	2.90	2.14
	Northern & Central	1.03	2.19	3.28	4.77	5.86	3.54
	Western	1.00	1.90	3.30	4.47	5.22	3.75
	Southern	0.90	1.89	2.86	3.66	3.95	2.82

Florida Citrus: Estimated boxes of fruit per tree by age groups and production areas, 1998-99 through 2002-03
Fruit type and season	Area	Age of trees					Average, weighted by bearing trees
		3 - 5 years	6 - 8 years	9 - 13 years	14 - 23 years	24 years and older
		Boxes per tree
Late (Valencia) Oranges:
1998-99	State	0.8	1.5	1.9	2.2	3.2	1.87
	Indian River	0.8	0.7	1.4	1.8	1.6	1.29
	Northern & Central	0.7	1.7	2.0	2.8	4.4	2.24
	Western	1.3	2.3	2.5	1.9	3.2	2.43
	Southern	0.6	1.3	1.7	1.9	3.5	1.58
1999-00	State	0 .9	1 .7	2 .4	3 .1	4 .5	2 .48
	Indian River	0 .5	1 .7	2 .1	2 .2	2 .9	2 .08
	Northern & Central	0 .5	1 .6	2 .6	4 .1	6 .2	2 .87
	Western	1 .6	1 .6	3 .1	3 .8	4 .6	3 .06
	Southern	1 .1	1 .7	2 .2	2 .4	3 .8	2 .11
2000-01	State	0 .9	1 .7	2 .3	2 .7	3 .7	2 .32
	Indian River	0 .5	1 .1	1 .8	1 .8	2 .3	1 .68
	Northern & Central	1 .1	1 .8	2 .4	2 .8	4 .8	2 .58
	Western	1 .2	2 .6	2 .6	3 .9	3 .3	2 .73
	Southern	0 .7	1 .6	2 .2	2 .7	4 .0	2 .18
2001-02	State	0 .9	1 .7	2 .4	2 .8	4 .5	2 .49
	Indian River	0 .5	1 .4	1 .5	2 .3	2 .8	1 .80
	Northern & Central	0 .9	1 .5	2 .6	3 .6	5 .5	2 .90
	Western	0 .8	2 .6	3 .2	3 .3	4 .7	3 .04
	Southern	1 .1	1 .5	2 .1	2 .4	4 .4	2 .16
2002-03	State	1 .0	1 .6	1 .9	2 .6	4 .0	2 .18
	Indian River	0 .8	0 .9	1 .6	1 .7	2 .0	1 .55
	Northern & Central	1 .2	1 .6	2 .0	3 .3	5 .4	2 .64
	Western	1 .3	2 .4	2 .3	2 .7	4 .1	2 .52
	Southern	0 .8	1 .4	1 .7	2 .4	3 .3	1 .89
Average	State	0 .91	1 .62	2 .17	2 .69	3 .97	2 .27
	Indian River	0 .66	1 .16	1 .69	1 .96	2 .31	1 .68
	Northern & Central	0 .88	1 .64	2 .33	3 .34	5 .27	2 .65
	Western	1 .18	2 .23	2 .73	3 .09	3 .96	2 .76
	Southern	0 .85	1 .50	2 .00	2 .38	3 .81	1 .99

Florida Citrus: Estimated boxes of fruit per tree by age groups and production areas, 1998-99 through 2002-03
Fruit type and season	Area	Age of trees					Average, weighted by bearing trees
		3 - 5 years	6 - 8 years	9 - 13 years	14 - 23 years	24 years and older
		Boxes per tree
White Grapefruit:
1998-99	State	1 .5	3 .1	4 .2	4 .8	5 .0	4 .05
	Indian River	1 .3	3 .3	4 .2	4 .1	4 .9	4 .01
	Northern & Central	3 .1	2 .2	4 .8	9 .5	8 .1	5 .23
	Western	1 .6	7 .1	4 .7	1 .6	5 .5	4 .41
	Southern	1 .6	2 .4	3 .7	4 .8	4 .2	3 .40
1999-00	State	1 .3	3 .1	4 .6	5 .2	6 .3	4 .82
	Indian River	1 .4	2 .9	4 .1	4 .7	5 .9	4 .50
	Northern & Central	0 .2	2 .5	5 .0	7 .9	12 .3	6 .44
	Western	1 .5	4 .4	2 .4	4 .7	5 .4	4 .00
	Southern	1 .4	3 .9	7 .0	4 .9	6 .3	5 .56
2000-01 1/	State	2 .2	2 .9	3 .8	7 .1	5 .4	4 .39
	Indian River	2 .1	2 .7	3 .6	7 .7	5 .2	4 .23
	Northern & Central	0 .9	3 .3	4 .8	8 .5	9 .4	6 .15
	Western	4 .8	3 .1	2 .5	4 .6	5 .6	4 .59
	Southern	0 .4	3 .1	3 .9	2 .7	4 .4	3 .78
2001-02 1/	State	1 .3	3 .3	3 .6	7 .0	5 .8	4 .56
	Indian River	1 .2	3 .1	3 .4	5 .2	5 .5	4 .15
	Northern & Central	1 .3	3 .1	4 .2	11 .8	10 .5	7 .31
	Western	4 .0	3 .1	0 .6	3 .0	5 .0	3 .73
	Southern	1 .5	4 .4	4 .2	6 .1	5 .1	4 .63
2002-03 1/	State	1 .9	3 .0	3 .2	4 .8	5 .3	4 .11
	Indian River	1 .3	2 .4	3 .2	3 .7	4 .8	3 .64
	Northern & Central	6 .3	6 .0	3 .5	5 .9	10 .2	6 .50
	Western	4 .0	5 .7	3 .3	6 .2	4 .8	4 .90
	Southern	8 .4	6 .4	3 .1	6 .2	4 .6	4 .20
Average	State	1 .60	3 .07	3 .78	5 .69	5 .58	4 .39
	Indian River	1 .48	2 .96	3 .61	4 .93	5 .25	4 .12
	Northern & Central	2 .37	2 .84	4 .40	8 .40	10 .10	6 .35
	Western	2 .55	4 .55	2 .59	4 .25	5 .25	4 .34
	Southern	1 .64	3 .39	4 .25	5 .17	4 .91	4 .31
1/ Includes seedy grapefruit.

Florida Citrus: Estimated boxes of fruit per tree by age groups and production areas, 1998-99 through 2002-03
Fruit type and season	Area	Age of trees					Average, weighted by bearing trees
		3 - 5 years	6 - 8 years	9 - 13 years	14 - 23 years	24 years and older
		Boxes per tree
Colored Grapefruit:
1998-99	State	1 .7	3 .2	3 .5	4 .7	4 .8	3 .68
	Indian River	0 .9	3 .2	3 .3	4 .6	4 .6	3 .60
	Northern & Central	1 .6	3 .7	4 .2	5 .6	7 .0	4 .07
	Western	2 .0	2 .3	6 .8	1 .4	5 .3	4 .31
	Southern	4 .7	3 .0	3 .2	6 .5	5 .4	3 .67
1999-00	State	1 .4	2 .9	4 .2	5 .3	5 .7	4 .17
	Indian River	1 .4	2 .3	3 .5	4 .9	5 .4	3 .92
	Northern & Central	1 .0	3 .4	6 .0	13 .2	10 .0	5 .98
	Western	3 .6	2 .2	6 .1	1 .3	5 .7	4 .40
	Southern	1 .0	3 .5	4 .9	5 .9	5 .9	4 .22
2000-01 1/	State	1 .7	3 .1	3 .4	4 .4	4 .6	3 .71
	Indian River	1 .4	2 .1	3 .2	4 .3	4 .5	3 .52
	Northern & Central	4 .6	2 .9	4 .2	6 .6	6 .9	4 .43
	Western	0 .8	0 .7	3 .9	0 .5	4 .5	2 .50
	Southern	2 .4	5 .6	3 .5	4 .6	5 .1	4 .25
2001-02	State	2 .0	2 .3	3 .9	4 .7	5 .2	4 .13
	Indian River	2 .1	1 .9	3 .6	4 .8	5 .2	4 .06
	Northern & Central	1 .7	3 .6	4 .8	7 .2	6 .5	5 .14
	Western	0 .8	2 .4	3 .9	0 .6	5 .4	3 .11
	Southern	1 .7	3 .4	4 .3	3 .6	5 .2	4 .07
2002-03	State	1 .6	1 .8	3 .0	4 .0	4 .8	3 .54
	Indian River	1 .0	1 .7	2 .4	3 .3	4 .3	3 .09
	Northern & Central	1 .3	1 .1	3 .1	8 .2	9 .8	5 .19
	Western	4 .8	1 .4	3 .6	5 .8	9 .3	4 .76
	Southern	2 .4	4 .0	4 .4	4 .2	6 .4	4 .32
Average	State	1 .64	2 .90	3 .62	4 .61	5 .01	3 .85
	Indian River	1 .24	2 .44	3 .19	4 .38	4 .79	3 .65
	Northern & Central	1 .84	3 .35	4 .41	8 .07	8 .06	4 .96
	Western	2 .18	1 .77	4 .86	2 .55	5 .93	3 .81
	Southern	2 .97	3 .67	4 .06	4 .90	5 .54	4 .08
1/ Excludes 2.0 million boxes of economic abandonment.

Florida Citrus Prices: Season average on-tree prices and equivalent returns per box received by growers, by varieties and utilization from crop years 2000-01, 2001-02, and 2002-03 1/
Type of fruit by seasons	Methods of sale			Type of fruit by seasons	Methods of sale
	Fresh	Processing	All