Florida Orange Crop Estimate Increases Slightly In June
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BARTOW (CBSMiami/AP) — Citrus fruit and juice are very popular summer snacks in the Sunshine State.
Florida's orange crop forecast has increased slightly but its grapefruit crop has remained unchanged.
Federal agricultural officials said Friday that the June forecast showed the state's orange crop growing by 500,000 boxes to 68.5 million boxes for the 2016-2017 growing season.
The grapefruit crop forecast remained unchanged from the previous month at 7.8 million boxes.
Florida Department of Citrus Executive Director Shannon Shepp says the extra 500,000 boxes is something to celebrate, given the hard times facing Florida's citrus growers.
Florida's citrus industry has been decimated in the past decade by the citrus greening disease.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)