Drought, freezing temperatures, and a fatal disease have devastated Florida's $9 billion citrus industry, causing output to fall to its lowest level in three years, the U.S. government and industry analysts said Friday. The U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecast Florida's 2009-2010 citrus crop to fall 16 percent from last season to 136 million 41-kilogram boxes, the second lowest level over the past decade. The USDA said the main cause of the lower forecast was weather in the spring, including “a series of cold fronts, freezing temperatures, and below-average rainfall,” which ravaged Florida's citrus trees. “The drought conditions continued into May, resulting in a 19 percent decrease in average fruit per tree from last season,” the report said. But many analysts blamed the weak production on citrus greening, also known as yellow dragon disease. There is no cure for the citrus greening bacteria, which attacks the vascular system of citrus trees and eventually kills them in a few years. Orange-juice futures on Wall Street jumped 10 percent on the smaller-than-expected USDA forecast.
