Dive Brief:
- Roughly one-third of California's navel orange crop was likely lost in the cold spell last month, according to preliminary forecasts. The mandarin crop is close to a total loss n much of the state.
- Things could be even worse -- a month after unusually cold temperature swept across California's orange groves, damage reports are still coming in.
- Prices have already begun to rise.
Dive Insight:
The only good news for California citrus growers this year is that sugar content in the navels was unusually high. That can help fruit survive cold temperatures. No doubt the losses from the freeze would have been much worse had the navels not been as sweet.
