Just six weeks after the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that the 2012-13 Florida citrus crop would decline by 5 percent as a result of dry weather and disease pressure, the situation has worsened.
"The current concern is that we continue to see dropping of fruit from the trees and the fruit is not sizing up," said Michael W. Sparks, CEO and executive vice president of Lakeland-based industry organization Florida Citrus Mutual. "It's not as big as growers anticipate. So there is less juice in that fruit. And that is becoming a grave concern to growers."
Vic Story, who runs 5,000-acre, Lake Wales-headquartered family operation The Story Companies, which grows oranges in Hardee and Polk counties, confirmed that growers are increasingly worried.
"We are seeing a decrease in our crop this year, primarily because of the dry weather and the disease pressure from greening," said Story, who has headed the 68-year-old company since the early 1970s.
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