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CITRUS 2003-04 SUMMARY
PRODUCTION, PRICE, AND VALUE
PRODUCTION BY COUNTIES AND PER TREE

September 23, 2004

Florida Citrus: Production, utilization, season average on-tree
price and value for the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons 1/
Fruit type Crop
year
Produc-
tion
Crop utilization On-tree
Fresh
use
Proces-
sing
Price
per box
Value of
production
  1,000 1-3/5 bushel boxes Dollars 1,000 dol.
Early-Midseason-
Navel Oranges
2002-03 112,000 6,773 105,227 2.62 293,594
2003-04 126,000 5,615 120,385 1.76 222,338
Valencia Oranges 2002-03 91,000 2,940 88,060 3.85 350,210
2003-04 116,000 4,066 111,934 3.00 347,491
All Oranges 2002-03 203,000 9,713 193,287 3.17 643,804
2003-04 242,000 9,681 232,319 2.35 569,829
White Grapefruit 2/ 2002-03 16,200 3,172 13,028 1.59 25,836
2003-04 15,900 3,282 12,618 1.48 23,606
Colored Grapefruit 2002-03 22,500 12,417 10,083 2.79 62,792
2003-04 25,000 13,356 11,644 3.82 95,584
All Grapefruit 2002-03 38,700 15,589 23,111 2.29 88,628
2003-04 40,900 16,638 24,262 2.91 119,190
Temples 2002-03 1,300 305 995 2.01 2,615
2003-04 1,400 341 1,059 1.00 1,393
Tangelos 2002-03 2,350 608 1,742 2.60 6,114
2003-04 1,000 545 455 7.33 7,334
Early Tangerines 3/ 2002-03 3,000 2,110 890 8.39 25,163
2003-04 3,600 2,307 1,293 6.11 21,987
Honey Tangerines 2002-03 2,500 1,804 696 8.36 20,897
2003-04 2,900 2,133 767 9.13 26,483
All Tangerines 2002-03 5,500 3,914 1,586 8.40 46,217
2003-04 6,500 4,440 2,060 7.42 48,217
All Citrus 2002-03 250,850 -- -- -- 787,378
2003-04 291,800 -- -- -- 745,963
1/ Excludes limes and lemons.
2/ Includes seedy grapefruit.
3/ Fallglo and Sunburst varieties.


PRODUCTION AND VALUE

The $746.0 million preliminary value of the 2003-04 citrus crop, the lowest since 1985-86, is down 5.3 percent from the 2002-03 season’s revised value of $787.4 million. Lemons are no longer included in this report and that revised value is down 3.5 percent from the preliminary value without lemons. Production increased 16 percent above last season and was higher for all varieties except the white grapefruit and tangelos.

The orange crop, 19 percent greater than last season, is second only to the 244.0 million boxes of 1997-98. Processing utilized 96 percent of the crop. Early-midseason-Navel production is up 13 percent but Navel production at 4.3 million boxes fell 20 percent and is below 5.0 million boxes for the first time since 1993-94. Navels, primarily a fresh use crop, comprised 55 percent of the total early-midseason-Navel fresh shipments. Valencia oranges surpassed last season by 27 percent and the previous record set in 1997-98 by 12 percent. Prices and values are lower for all orange varieties.

White grapefruit (seedless and seedy) production is the least in a series dating back to 1956-57 but colored grapefruit is up 11 percent from last season. Increases in colored grapefruit offset declines by white grapefruit resulting in all grapefruit increases of production-6 percent, price per box-27 percent, and value-34 percent. Over half of the colored grapefruit was shipped fresh while almost 80 percent of the white was processed.

Production was higher for both early and late tangerines. Price-per-box and value are lower for the early category (Fallglo and Sunburst) but higher for the Honey variety resulting in a lower price but higher value for all tangerines. Temple production is up 8 percent but the on-tree price fell to the lowest since 1966-67 and the value equals only 53 percent of last season’s. The tangelo crop plummeted to the lowest level since 1964-65. However, a greater proportion of fresh shipments consisted of the high value Minneola variety. The preliminary price is higher than any revised price in the series and the crop value is up 20 percent from last season.

Prices for the 2003-04 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 2002-03. The table on page 8 shows a breakdown of citrus prices for all fruit types by usage for 2003-04 and the two previous seasons.


Florida Citrus: Production by counties and types, 2003-2004
County All
Citrus 1/
Round oranges Grapefruit
Early and Midseason Late (Valencia) All White 2/ Colored All
  1,000 Boxes
Brevard 1,660 674 614 1,288 128 174 302
Charlotte 7,214 1,898 3,691 5,589 47 1,292 1,339
Collier 11,413 4,819 5,782 10,601 35 494 529
DeSoto 28,878 12,894 15,524 28,418 50 100 150
Glades 3,806 2,009 1,637 3,646 5 69 74
Hardee 22,169 15,225 6,342 21,567 72 175 247
Hendry 33,852 12,726 17,832 30,558 772 1,829 2,601
Hernando 386 363 6 369 - 3 3
Highlands 35,282 13,715 19,201 32,916 916 523 1,439
Hillsborough 8,010 5,879 1,699 7,578 42 137 179
Indian River 17,263 2,977 2,738 5,715 5,302 5,990 11,292
Lake 7,310 4,750 1,113 5,863 12 425 437
Lee 3,511 1,167 1,929 3,096 12 304 316
Manatee 9,237 5,262 3,576 8,838 109 160 269
Marion 435 322 45 367 - 14 14
Martin 12,632 4,039 7,253 11,292 776 312 1,088
Okeechobee 4,030 2,065 1,375 3,440 197 273 470
Orange 2,274 1,266 759 2,025 2 63 65
Osceola 6,623 3,817 1,759 5,576 523 358 881
Palm Beach 1,749 621 269 890 78 338 416
Pasco 4,409 3,519 701 4,220 3 42 45
Polk 42,202 21,481 15,693 37,174 1,570 1,551 3,121
St. Lucie 25,844 3,726 6,018 9,744 5,190 10,169 15,359
Sarasota 586 134 259 393 26 127 153
Seminole 448 277 109 386 - 15 15
Volusia 432 271 65 336 32 49 81
Other 4/ 145 104 11 115 1 14 15
Total 291,800 126,000 116,000 242,000 15,900 25,000 40,900
Indian River 47,544 7,600 10,800 18,400 11,200 16,800 28,000
Northern 15,623 10,787 2,764 13,551 17 578 595
Central 83,525 38,613 36,536 75,149 2,983 2,422 5,405
Western 68,890 39,400 27,400 66,800 300 700 1,000
Southern 76,218 29,600 38,500 68,100 1,400 4,500 5,900
Total 291,800 126,000 116,000 242,000 15,900 25,000 40,900
1/ Excludes limes and lemons.
2/ Includes seedy grapefruit.
3/ Fallglo and Sunburst varieties.
4/ Alachua, Citrus, Pinellas, and Putnam.
Continued...



Florida Citrus: Production by counties and types, 2003-2004
Tangerines Specialty
Early 3/ Honey All Temples Tangelos
1,000 Boxes
26 13 39 19 12
173 93 266 9 11
70 154 224 38 21
80 193 273 14 23
31 53 84 - 2
110 166 276 18 61
115 384 499 135 59
12 - 12 - 2
318 247 565 308 54
66 110 176 18 59
71 91 162 68 26
748 65 813 51 146
42 51 93 1 5
11 52 63 26 41
51 - 51 - 3
40 58 98 103 51
45 59 104 9 7
115 17 132 21 31
60 23 83 66 17
75 307 382 51 10
101 19 120 14 10
1,001 459 1,460 201 246
186 277 463 209 69
7 6 13 19 8
26 1 27 - 20
9 1 10 1 4
11 1 12 1 2
3,600 2,900 6,500 1,400 1,000
287 392 679 351 114
1,073 103 1,176 87 214
1,371 714 2,085 574 312
274 527 801 96 193
595 1,164 1,759 292 167
3,600 2,900 6,500 1,400 1,000
1/ Excludes limes and lemons.
2/ Includes seedy grapefruit.
3/ Fallglo and Sunburst varieties.
4/ Alachua, Citrus, Pinellas, and Putnam.
map: Florida citrus production areas


PRODUCTION BY COUNTIES

Total citrus production (excluding limes and lemons) increased by 16 percent in the 2003-04 season. Over three-fourths of the harvest came from the Central, Western, and Southern areas. Increases by area ranged from a low of 13 percent in the Southern area to a high of 21 percent in the Western. Production by Marketing District is distributed as follows: Indian River, 47.5 million boxes, 16.3 percent; Gulf, 59.8 million boxes, 20.5 percent; and SunRidge, 184.5 million boxes, 63.2 percent.

Production increased in 24 of the 30 counties. Polk leads in total production with 42.2 million boxes and is followed by Highlands (35.3 million boxes), Hendry (33.9 million boxes), DeSoto (28.9 million boxes), and St. Lucie (25.8 million boxes). These top five counties produced 57 percent of the crop.

Polk County produces the most oranges with Highlands, Hendry, DeSoto, and Hardee following. However, Highlands and Hendry lead in production of the late (Valencia) variety. Valencia oranges account for 48 percent of the orange crop with early, midseason, and Navel varieties constituting the remainder.

St. Lucie (15.4 million boxes) remains the top grapefruit producer followed by Indian River (11.3 million boxes). Together they produced nearly two-thirds of the State’s crop. Polk and Hendry are the top producers outside the Indian River District. Colored grapefruit comprised 61 percent of the crop while white totaled 39 percent.

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

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 averages of 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, 1999-00 through 2003-04
Fruit type
by season
Area Age of trees Average 1/
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)
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
2003-04 State 1.9 1.9 3.2 4.1 5.3 3.66
Indian River 0.7 1.3 1.7 2.4 3.5 2.18
Northern & Central 2.7 2.6 3.8 4.7 7.3 4.39
Western 2.0 1.6 3.7 4.7 5.3 4.21
Southern 1.6 1.6 2.5 3.3 4.4 2.86
Average State 1.16 1.96 3.10 4.13 4.94 3.40
Indian River 0.65 1.51 1.87 2.49 3.03 2.17
Northern & Central 1.36 2.30 3.46 4.75 6.40 3.87
Western 1.27 1.74 3.33 4.58 5.32 3.89
Southern 1.14 1.90 2.82 3.62 4.11 2.90
1/ Average weighted by bearing trees.



Florida Citrus: Estimated boxes of fruit per tree by age groups and
production areas, 1999-00 through 2003-04
Fruit type
by season
Area Age of trees Average 1/
3 - 5
years
6 - 8
years
9 - 13
years
14 - 23
years
24 years
and older
  Boxes per tree
Late (Valencia) Oranges:
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
2003-04 State 1.7 2.1 2.5 3.0 5.1 2.83
Indian River 1.6 1.1 1.8 2.2 3.5 2.07
Northern & Central 1.4 2.3 2.8 4.0 6.5 3.40
Western 2.7 2.3 3.4 3.3 4.7 3.38
Southern 1.0 2.1 2.3 2.5 4.8 2.40
Average State 1.09 1.73 2.28 2.83 4.33 2.46
Indian River 0.80 1.30 1.75 2.03 2.68 1.84
Northern & Central 1.03 1.72 2.45 3.59 5.67 2.88
Western 1.50 2.22 2.89 3.28 4.26 2.94
Southern 0.94 1.67 2.10 2.45 4.07 2.15
1/ Average weighted by bearing trees.



Florida Citrus: Estimated boxes of fruit per tree by age groups and
production areas, 1999-00 through 2003-04
Fruit type
by season
Area Age of trees Average 1/
3 - 5
years
6 - 8
years
9 - 13
years
14 - 23
years
24 years
and older
  Boxes per tree
White Grapefruit:
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 2/ 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 2/ 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 2/ 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
2003-04 2/ State 2.5 3.5 3.5 4.4 6.9 4.90
Indian River 1.5 3.3 3.7 3.4 7.0 4.75
Northern & Central 8.2 6.8 4.9 9.4 10.3 8.11
Western 2.0 3.4 0.4 1.9 5.6 3.57
Southern 5.7 1.9 2.1 2.8 4.6 3.23
Average State 1.73 3.12 3.69 5.36 5.90 4.55
Indian River 1.55 2.87 3.57 4.50 5.59 4.24
Northern & Central 2.76 3.43 4.41 8.58 10.47 6.87
Western 3.19 4.02 1.92 4.01 5.24 4.23
Southern 2.27 3.83 3.92 4.22 5.06 4.37
1/ Average weighted by bearing trees.
2/ Includes seedy grapefruit.



Florida Citrus: Estimated boxes of fruit per tree by age groups and
production areas, 1999-00 through 2003-04
Fruit type
by season
Area Age of trees Average 1/
3 - 5
years
6 - 8
years
9 - 13
years
14 - 23
years
24 years
and older
  Boxes per tree
Colored Grapefruit:
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 2/ 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
2003-04 State 2.9 3.5 3.6 4.6 6.0 4.37
Indian River 1.1 3.4 3.0 4.5 5.7 4.20
Northern & Central 5.7 4.0 5.9 5.0 8.5 5.70
Western 3.6 3.3 3.4 2.5 12.8 4.17
Southern 5.7 4.3 3.8 5.1 6.3 4.39
Average State 1.86 2.80 3.62 4.58 5.24 3.98
Indian River 1.41 2.18 3.14 4.37 5.01 3.75
Northern & Central 2.67 3.20 4.68 7.35 8.36 5.28
Western 2.43 1.64 4.27 2.68 7.18 3.75
Southern 2.96 4.10 4.11 4.72 5.67 4.24
1/ Average weighted by bearing trees.
2/ 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 2001-02, 2002-03, and 2003-04 1/
Fruit type
by season
Methods of sale Fruit type
by season
Methods of sale
Fresh Processing All Fresh Processing All
  Dollars per box   Dollars per box
Oranges Grapefruit
Navel White
2001-02 5.15 1.80 4.19 2001-02 6.54 0.91 1.96
2002-03 7.25 -1.02 4.93 2002-03 7.57 0.14 1.59
2003-04 6.45 -1.40 4.28 2003-04 7.50 -0.08 1.48
Early-Midseason (excluding Navel) Colored
2001-02 4.05 2.79 2.82 2001-02 4.92 0.17 2.54
2002-03 3.75 2.46 2.49 2002-03 5.13 -0.09 2.79
2003-04 2.45 1.65 1.67 2003-04 7.27 -0.13 3.82
Early-Midseason-Navel All Grapefruit
2001-02 4.65 2.79 2.88 2001-02 5.25 0.56 2.31
2002-03 5.75 2.42 2.62 2002-03 5.63 0.04 2.29
2003-04 4.65 1.63 1.76 2003-04 7.32 -0.10 2.91
Valencia Tangerines
2001-02 5.25 4.17 4.20
2002-03 5.30 3.80 3.85 Early 2/
2003-04 3.15 2.99 3.00 2001-02 11.20 -0.70 6.93
All Oranges 2002-03 12.20 -0.65 8.39
2001-02 4.84 3.41 3.47 2003-04 10.50 -1.73 6.11
2002-03 5.61 3.05 3.17 Honey
2003-04 4.02 2.29 2.35 2001-02 15.20 -0.04 9.61
Temples 2002-03 11.90 -0.82 8.36
2003-04 12.70 0.79 9.13
2001-02 4.90 1.19 2.19 All Tangerines
2002-03 3.65 1.51 2.01 2001-02 12.50 -0.47 7.81
2003-04 3.65 0.14 1.00 2002-03 12.10 -0.72 8.40
Tangelos 2003-04 11.50 -1.38 7.42
 
2001-02 6.10 0.73 2.47
2002-03 7.65 0.84 2.60
2003-04 13.85 -0.47 7.33
1/ 2001-02 and 2002-03 revised to reflect final payments in cooperative and participation plans and changes in pick, haul and packing charges. 2003-04 preliminary price based on cash sales only.
2/ Robinson, Fallglo, Sunburst, and Dancy varieties in 2001-02, Fallglo and Sunburst only beginning in 2002-03.


Florida Bearing Trees: Estimated trees of bearing age by age group,
year set, and type, for the 2003-04 season

Fruit type
Age 1
1998-2000
Age 2
1995-97
Age 3
1990-94
Age 4
1980-89
Age 5
1979
and earlier
Total
bearing
trees
  1,000 trees
Early-Midseason-Navel Oranges 3,072 2,540 9,887 13,824 5,122 34,445
Valencia Oranges 4,717 4,177 14,134 13,073 4,846 40,947
White Grapefruit 121 291 1,013 635 1,187 3,247
Colored Grapefruit 268 186 2,111 1,998 1,158 5,721




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