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Forecast: Florida orange crop may be smallest in half century

 
Published Aug. 15, 2014

Closely watched private forecaster Elizabeth Steger predicts Florida will harvest its smallest orange crop in 50 years during the next crop year, according to the Wall Street Journal. Steger estimated Florida would produce 89 million boxes of oranges in the year starting Oct. 1, a 15 percent decrease from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's final 2013-14 estimate of 104.4 million boxes. If Steger's forecast of the 2014-15 crop proves accurate, it would be the lowest production since 1964-65, when Florida's output was just 82.4 million boxes, the Journal reported. Each box weighs 90 pounds.