U.S. Citrus Hauling Outlook

December is one of the slowest months of the year in terms of produce volume and shipments, despite the holidays.   Citrus, led by oranges and grapefruit tend to provide some of the best loading opportunities.   Florida easily leads the orange tonnage, although a large percentage of this citrus is processed for juice, unlike in California.  Florida should ship about 150 million boxes of oranges this season, compared to around 57.5 million from California, the latter coming from central and southern areas.    Florida also easily leads in shipments of grapefruit, with about 19.4 million boxes forecast this season.  Second is the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas with around 5.1 million boxes and followed by California with 3.4 million cartons.

Texas grapefruit grossing about  $1300 to Tulsa and Oklahoma City