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California citrus industry ranks second in the United
States after Florida. California’s total citrus
production averaged 3.2 million tons per season over the
past three seasons, about 24 percent of the total. Oranges,
on average, accounted for two-thirds of the State’s
citrus crop, lemons one-quarter, grapefruits 6 percent,
and tangerines/clementines 3 percent.
California Leads in Production of Fresh-Market Oranges
While California produces 24 percent of the nation’s
oranges, its crop accounts for 80 percent of those going
to the fresh-market. The share of the State’s crop
going to fresh market varies by season, depending on the
quality of the crop. Over the past three seasons, an average
of 79 percent of the oranges went for fresh use, ranging
from a high of 88 percent in 2003/04 to a low of 72 percent
in 2005/06. During the freeze season in 1998/99, 55 percent
of the crop was sold for fresh use. The remaining oranges
were used for juice or animal feed.
Navel oranges comprise most of California’s orange
crop. Navels accounted for about 75 percent over the past
three seasons. Valencia oranges account for the remainder.
In recent years, demand for Valencias has been declining
and growers have been removing acreage. Some of this acreage
is then planted to navel orange trees, including those
producing later-maturing fruit to expand the marketing
season, as well as to different varieties of tangerines.
The value of production for California’s oranges
averaged $578 million over the past three seasons, 98
percent of which came from fresh-market sales. Prices
growers receive for their oranges vary widely depending
on the end use. The season-average price for a 75-pound
box of oranges sold for fresh use ranged from $9.75 in
2003/04 to $10.88 in 2005/06 (equivalent on-tree price).
Oranges sold for processing averaged $-2.06 per box in
2004/05 to $-0.97 per box; in 2005/06. The negative value
of the processing price reflects the return the grower
receives per box minus the cost of producing that box;
in other words, selling oranges for processing in California
does not fully cover the cost of producing and harvesting
them.
Per capita consumption of fresh-market oranges has been
stagnant since 2000, declining in 2005/06 partly due to
quality problems with the fruit, reducing the quantity
going to the fresh market. Since 2000, Americans’
consumption of fresh oranges averaged 11.54 pounds per
person (excluding 2005/06 when the average fell to 9.82
pounds). This is a drop from the early 1970s when consumption
averaged 15 pounds per person. Fresh-orange per capita
consumption was the lowest during the past two freezes,
averaging 8.43 pounds in 1990/91 and 8.38 pounds in 1998/99.
While U.S. demand for fresh oranges has not been growing
in recent years, demand from international markets has
grown. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, exports accounted
for about 24 percent of total supplies. Since 2002/03,
they have averaged 29 percent of the total. While Canada
remains the major export market, as it has since 1990,
its share of total exports has been declining over the
past few seasons, as they have to Japan the second biggest
market. Export demand from South Korea, China, Malaysia,
and Mexico, however, has been growing in recent years.
California Is the Major U.S. Lemon Producer
California produces about 87 percent of the U.S. lemon
crop, with Arizona producing the rest. Ventura County
is California’s number-one lemon producer, with
almost half the total number of bearing acres, followed
by Riverside, Imperial, Tulare, Kern, and San Diego. Harvesting
begins in August in the desert areas before moving up
the coast and into the Central Valley area.
Over the past three seasons, California produced an
average of 754 million tons of lemons annually. During
this time, about 66 percent of the crop went to the fresh
market, with the remainder going to processing. Fresh
lemons are marketed throughout the year; however, demand
is generally strongest in the summer months.
The value of production for California lemons averaged
$293 million over the last three seasons, with the value
of fresh lemon production accounting for 99 percent of
the total. The season-average price California growers
received for all lemons averaged $9.51 per 76-pound box
(equivalent on-tree price) during this time. The average
on-tree price for fresh lemons ranged from a low of $14.90
per box in 2003/04 to a high of $18.32 in 2005/06. For
processing lemons, it ranged from $-5.68 in 2005/06 to
$-4.91 in 2003/04. Like the processing orange price, the
negative value for processing lemons indicates that prices
received by growers did not fully cover the costs of production.
U.S. per capita fresh lemon consumption reached a high
of 3.96 pounds in 2005/06. Since 2000, Americans have
consumed an average of 3.3 pounds per person, up from
the average of 2.7 pounds throughout the 1990s. Consumption
of lemon juice has also increased from the past decade.
In the 1990s, per capita lemon juice consumption averaged
0.14 gallons. In the 2000s, it has averaged 0.16 gallons.
Much of the lemon juice is consumed in sodas and fruit
drinks. While imports account for only about 8 percent
of fresh lemon consumption since 2000, they account for
almost half the lemon juice consumption.
California Grapefruits Provide Year-Round Availability
California is less well-known for its grapefruit than
for its oranges and lemons. Its grapefruit crop is generally
about a tenth of Florida’s, and has trailed Texas’s
throughout the 2000s. (Over the past two seasons, California’s
share of the grapefruit crop increased as Florida’s
crop declined sharply due to hurricane damage.) California’s
grapefruit, however, play a bigger role in the fresh market,
where during a normal season its crop would account for
about 17 percent of production. Unlike Florida and Texas,
California grapefruit are marketed throughout the year,
making fresh grapefruit available after both the Florida
and Texas crops have finished.
Over the past three seasons, about 88 percent of California’s
grapefruit were sold to the fresh market. Season-average
prices for California’s fresh-market grapefruit
range from $8.85 per 67-pound box (equivalent on-tree
price) in 2003/04 to $15.52 per box in 2004/05. Prices
in the past two seasons were higher than usual for California
growers because of the hurricane-reduced Florida crop.
Like processing oranges and lemons, California’s
processing grapefruit also had a negative value; most
of the fruit that went to processing were culled at the
packinghouses because they did not meet packers’
standards for fresh-market sales.
California’s Tangerine Industry Growing
In recent years, California’s citrus producers
have been increasing their acreage of tangerines, mostly
planting easy-peel varieties, such as clementines and
mandarins. In 2005, California had almost as many acres
of nonbearing tangerine varieties as bearing acres (acreage
with trees producing a commercial crop of fruit). In the
next several years, these acres will come into production
and will change the makeup of the domestic tangerine selection
available in the State. At the same time that California’s
bearing acreage has been increasing, Florida’s acreage
has been declining.
If this trend continues, California will likely become
the major tangerine producer in the United States, overtaking
Florida. Over the past three seasons, California’s
share of the U.S. tangerine crop has increased from 20
percent in 2003/04 to about 33 percent in 2004/05 and
2005/06. At the same time, Florida’s share has decreased
from 74 percent in 2003/04 to 63 percent the past two
seasons. Part of the decline in Florida’s share
of production is a result of reduced crops due to losses
from hurricanes; however, the increased plantings in California
have also contributed.
The value of California’s tangerine production
increased from $33 million in 2003/04 to $59 million in
2005/06. From 2003/04 to 2005/06, the season-average price
for California’s fresh tangerines ranged from a
low of $14.03 per 75-pound box (equivalent on-tree price)
in 2003/04 to $18.66 per box in 2005/06. In comparison,
Florida’s fresh tangerine prices ranged from $11.50
per 95-pound box in 2003/04 to $15.90 in 2004/05.
Want More Data and Information?
See also:
Background Statistics:
U.S. Citrus Market
Fruit and Tree
Nuts Briefing Room
Fruit and Tree Nuts Outlook
Reports
Fruit
and Tree Nuts Yearbook 
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