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USDA Crop Production Report Released

Orange Production Up 2 Percent from February Forecast
 
The United States all orange forecast for the 2015-2016 season is 5.36 million tons, up 2 percent from the previous forecast but down 16 percent from the 2014-2015 final utilization. The Florida all orange forecast, at 71.0 million boxes (3.20 million tons), is up 3 percent from last month's forecast but down 27 percent from last season's final 
utilization. Early, midseason, and Navel varieties in Florida are forecast at 36.0 million boxes (1.62 million tons), unchanged from last month but down 24 percent from last season's final utilization. The Florida Valencia orange forecast, at 35.0 million boxes (1.58 million tons), is up 6 percent from last month but down 29 percent from last season's final utilization.
 
The California Valencia orange forecast is 10.5 million boxes (420,000 tons), up 5 percent from previous forecast and up 11 percent from the previous season. This results in a California all orange forecast of 52.5 million boxes (2.10 million tons), up 1 percent from the previous forecast. Objective survey measurements taken during January and February indicated that fruit set per tree was higher than the previous year and the most since 2010, but the measured average fruit size was slightly below the previous year. The forecast for Texas is carried forward from the previous forecast.
 
Florida frozen concentrated orange juice (FCOJ) yield forecast for the 2015-2016 season is 1.45 gallons per box at 42.0 degrees Brix, unchanged from the February forecast but down 3 percent from last season's final yield of 1.50 gallons per box. The early and midseason portion is final at 1.35 gallons per box, unchanged from last month but down 5 percent from last season's final yield of 1.42 gallons per box. The Valencia portion is projected at 1.60 gallons per box, unchanged from the February forecast but up 1 percent from last year's final yield of 1.58 gallons per box. All 
projections of yield assume the processing relationships this season will be similar to those of the past several seasons.
Source : USDA

Trending Video

Moving Ag Research Forward Through Collaboration

Video: Moving Ag Research Forward Through Collaboration



BY: Ashley Robinson

It may seem that public and private researchers have different goals when it comes to agricultural research. However, their different strategies can work in tandem to drive agricultural research forward. Public research may focus more on high-risk and applied research with federal or outside funding, while private sector researchers focus more on research application.

“For me, the sweet spot for public private sector research is when we identify problems and collaborate and can use that diverse perspective to address the different aspects of the challenge. Public sector researchers can work on basic science high risk solutions as tools and technologies are developed. They then can work with their private sector partners who prototype solutions,” Mitch Tuinstra, professor of plant breeding and genetics in Purdue University’s Department of Agronomy, said during the Jan. 10 episode of Seed Speaks.

Public researchers they have the flexibility to be more curiosity driven in their work and do discovery research. This is complimentary to private research, which focuses on delivering a product, explained Jed Christianson, canola product design lead for Bayer CropScience, explained during the episode.

“As a seed developer, we worry about things like new crop diseases emerging. Having strong public sector research where people can look into how a disease lifecycle cycle works, how widespread is it and what damage it causes really helps inform our product development strategies,” he added.

It’s not always easy though to develop these partnerships. For Christianson, it’s simple to call up a colleague at Bayer and start working on a research project. Working with someone outside of his company requires approvals from more people and potential contracts.

“Partnerships take time, and you always need to be careful when you're establishing those contracts. For discoveries made within the agreement, there need to be clear mechanisms for sharing credits and guidelines for anything brought into the research to be used in ways that both parties are comfortable with,” Christianson said.

Kamil Witek, group leader of 2Blades, a non-profit that works with public and private ag researchers, pointed out there can be limitations and challenges to these partnerships. While private researchers are driven by being able to make profits and stay ahead of competitors, public researchers may be focused on information sharing and making it accessible to all.

“The way we deal with this, we work in this unique dual market model. Where on one hand we work with business collaborators, with companies to deliver value to perform projects for them. And at the same time, we return the rights to our discoveries to the IP to use for the public good in developing countries,” Witek said during the episode.

At the end of the day, the focus for all researchers is to drive agricultural research forward through combining the knowledge, skills and specializations of the whole innovation chain, Witek added.

“If there's a win in it for me, and there's a win in it for my private sector colleagues in my case, because I'm on the public side, it’s very likely to succeed, because there's something in it for all of us and everyone's motivated to move forward,” Tuinstra said.