There’s been heat followed by freeze in California, heat in Florida and pretty mild stuff going on in South Texas. Yet amazingly, citrus hauls have not been as adversley affected as one might think by the weather.
California navel orange loadings may be the most consistent produce item coming out of that state. Mandarin freeze damage will not be known for a couple of weeks, but the speciality citrus item is minor compared tothe volume with navels.
It has been warmer than Floridia citrus shippers like, but there are still oranges and grapefruit available with good quality and adequate volume.
At the same time Texas has overall good citrus and not enough adverse weather to mention.
Five nights of freezing in mid January had everyone concerned in California, but it appears navels will mostly be in good shape, although lemons shipments are expected to be moderately affected. Mandarin losses could be substantial.
Overall, about three-quarters of California’s winter citrus crop was yet to be harvested when the cold hit in mid January.
In Florida, it has been one of the warmer fall and winter shipping season on record. As a result the coloring of Honey tangerines is behind schedule, which may extend shipments through February.
Otherwise, the shipping outlook for Valencia oranges is good, and should continue into the summer months.
In mid January, the USDA revised its Florida citrus shipping estimated for the 2012-13 season. It is projected to be down another 3 percent , but still remains at an impressive 142 million boxes. Most of the decline was with Valencias, which dropped 3 million boxes to 76 million.
The USDA predictes about 18 million boxes of grapefruit will be shipped from Florida.
Florida citrus – grossing about $3100 to Boston.
Texas citrus – about $2800 to Chicago.
California citrus, about $6100 to New York.