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Florida Tomato Shipments Up, but Citrus is Off
USAgNet - 09/23/2016

Florida tomato shipments look to be similar to last season, while a big plunge is seen with Florida citrus. According to HaulProduce.com, the 2015-16 season, which ended in June, tomato growers packed 28.2 million 25-pound equivalent cartons of mature greens and vine-ripe tomatoes, down from 36.5 million from the previous season. The decline is attributed primarily to excessive rains during the growing season. Torrential spring rains reduced yields that caused the 8 million carton shortage,

Last year, Mexican tomato imports increased 18 percent from the prior year from October to mid-June. Imported Mexican tomatoes are primarily vine ripes, while Florida's tomatoes are mostly mature greens.

Fall plantings for this season are expected to be similar to a year ago. Florida tomato shipments will get underway in October. In fact Florida typically is shipping tomatoes most of the year, with the exception being July, August and September.

Meanwhile, citrus acreage has declined to its lowest level in nearly three generations. On September 12, the USDA reported the Sunshine State's citrus acreage declined to 480,121 acres for 2015-16, the lowest since the agency began surveying acreage in 1966.

Oranges, which constitute 89 percent of the state's citrus acreage, is the lowest since that period as are grapefruit and tangerines. In 1970, Florida growers planted 715,806 acres of oranges, 124,050 acres of grapefruit and 101,615 acres of specialty fruit or tangerines and tangelos.


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