Lakeland, Florida, January 3, 2008 – The Florida citrus industry dodged a bullet early Thursday morning as low temperatures across the state failed to cause significant damage to the crop.
There may be isolated areas that have minor fruit damage, however, temperatures did not dip low enough for long enough duration to create substantial problems.
“This is good news for growers, good news for consumers and good news for the state of Florida,” said Michael W. Sparks, executive vice president/CEO of Florida Citrus Mutual. “Mother Nature cut us a break this time and now we can continue to produce the quality citrus crop Florida is known for.”
“As reports come in, we fully expect to hear about pockets of fruit damage but as a whole the industry came through this in good shape.”
According to grower reports, Arcadia reached 27 degrees, Wauchula hit 28 degrees, Sebring came in at 29 degrees and Vero Beach dipped to 33 degrees.
The United States Department of Agriculture has forecast a 168 million box orange crop which represents a 30 percent increase from the 2006-2007 season.
Founded in 1948 and currently representing nearly 8,000 grower members, Florida Citrus Mutual is the state’s largest citrus growers’ organization.