Just when the Florida citrus industry was hoping to rebound somewhat from the devastation caused by citrus greening in recent years, Irma came along and blew away a good part of this year’s production.

The first citrus forecast for the season from USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service is calling for the all orange forecast for the 2017-2018 season to 4.34 million tons, down 16 percent from the 2016-2017 final utilization.

The Florida all orange forecast, at 54.0 million boxes (2.43 million tons), is down 21 percent from last season’s final utilization. Early, midseason, and Navel varieties in Florida are forecast at 23.0 million boxes (1.04 million tons), down 30 percent from last season’s final utilization. The Florida Valencia orange forecast, at 31.0 million boxes (1.40 million tons), is down 13 percent from last season’s final utilization.

The California forecast is also lower than last year at 35.0 million boxes (1.40 million tons), down 11 percent from last season’s final utilization, while the Texas all orange forecast, at 1.65 million boxes (70,000 tons), is up 20 percent from last year.

AgNet Media has carried the citrus forecast live from USDA for many years. Listen to Gary Cooper with Candi Erick, agricultural statistics administrator with the Florida Agricultural Statistics Service, who gives the numbers: AgNet Media Oct 2017 Citrus Crop Forecast