Florida citrus forecast put on hold indefinitely

The USDA's widely anticipated initial citrus forecast, originally scheduled for release Friday, has been delayed until President Barack Obama and congressional leaders resolve their federal budget impasse, which has shut down dozens of government agencies since Oct. 1.

The USDA usually releases its first citrus forecast in the middle of October, and it influences the negotiations between Florida growers and juice processors on farm prices for their fruit. Processors buy 95 percent of Florida's orange crop and more than 60 percent of the state's grapefruit harvest each season.

Growers are already seeing high drop on their greening-infected trees, said McKenna and Jay Clark, a Wauchula-based grower and Citrus Commission member, but it remains unclear whether drop levels will repeat the 2012-13 rates. "The big thing is the drop and how much of it is built in" to the USDA estimate, Clark said.

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