Florida’s beleaguered citrus industry received a mixed bag of news this week, with a stable production forecast offering a glimmer of hope amidst the ongoing challenges of hurricane damage and disease.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture released an updated forecast on Friday, maintaining its projections for orange and grapefruit production at 12 million and 1.2 million boxes, respectively. These figures remain unchanged from the December forecast, which was the first projection following the devastating impact of Hurricane Milton in October.
However, the forecast lowered projections for specialty crops, primarily tangerines and tangelos, by about 14%, to 300,000 boxes…