USDA report shows California leads U.S. citrus production

The last USDA citrus report of the season sees a rise in orange production, led by California.

USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service released the final citrus report of the season July 12, which showed orange production rose in July to 108.3 million boxes, up from 105.7 million in June.

California production rose from 52 million boxes of oranges in June to 54.5 million in July, edging out Florida’s 52.8 million boxes.

July grapefruit production rose slightly from June to July, with 10.9 million boxes vs. 10.7 million, respectively. Lemons dropped in the timeframe from 23.8 million to 23 million, and tangerines/tangelos rise from 23.9 million boxes to 24.9 million.

While Florida citrus didn’t change from June to July, it’s production for the 2020-21 season is significantly down from the previous two seasons. Florida’s orange production has dropped from 71.8 million boxes in 2018-19 to 67.4 million boxes in 2019-20 to 52.8 million boxes this season.

Read the full report from USDA NASS here.

USDA will release the first forecast of the 2021-2022 on October 12, 2021.