TAMPA, Fla. - There could be a price hike for orange juice as forecasters are predicting the smallest orange crop since 1945.The U.S.
Agriculture Department expects Florida to produce more than 44 million 90-pound boxes of oranges. That figure is even lower than 2017’s crop, which was impacted by Hurricane Irma.
The state’s citrus industry department says citrus greening is to blame. It’s an incurable disease that thins the crown of orange trees and diminishes their vitality.
It was first discovered among Florida’s crops in 2005.Earlier this month, a state court ruled in favor of 18,000 homeowners, saying they will be paid more than $42 million collectively by the state for destroying their citrus trees during an effort to eradicate the harmful citrus disease.