Liquid Sunshine
Nearly 70 million cartons of Texas fruit will be shipped to market this year; the sweetest fruit you'll ever taste. Texas ranks just behind California and Florida as the largest supplier of oranges, and the Texas Ruby Red grapefruit is known far and wide for its tender meat and sugary flavor.
Winter Texans are especially fond of fresh Texas fruit, which ripens as early as October and reaches peak in November and December each year. There's still plenty of fresh fruit available in January, and sometimes as late as February, the perfect time to stock on nature's gift while visiting the Lone Star State.
The citrus harvest in Rio Grande Valley is yielding well, but less is being trucked out of the fields because of fewer sales than last year, the Texas Agricultural Extension Service reports. Extension horticulturist Dr. Julian Sauls of Welasco said harvesting is down because producers missed the market window to sell in late October and November.
He said the California Valencia season is usually done by October, so Texas producers usually don't have a problem selling their citrus.
"We usually ship a lot of fruit in October and November, but the California orange season overlapped with our season and we weren't able to get as many sales because of that," he said. "They kept shipping and selling, leaving our sales down 10 to 12 percent from last year."
Saul said the yield estimate on oranges is about 4 million carlots and the estimate for grapefruit is about 13 million carlots, which adds up to about 70 million cartons of fruit.
Sauls said Marrs and Naval oranges are usually harvested at this time and can be shipped up until February depending on how many there are.
"We might still be shipping in February this year," he said, "But often the oranges will go bad before then because the rind of the fruit begins to soften, and there is a greater risk of bruising."
Sauls said any oranges not sold by the end of December may be sent to juice manufacturers. However, Marrs and Naval oranges are not ideal for making juice, and there may be no need for these oranges if the manufacturers have other options.
While Texas ranks third in U.S. orange production, following only Florida and California, oranges are only 25 percent of South Texas' total citrus crop, Sauls said.
The red grapefruit crop is the producers' major concern because it brings in the most income.
"While the prices of oranges are down, the price of grapefruit is comparable," he said. "The fruit is priced by carton, and with grapefruit, the bigger the size, the higher the price."
Hidalgo County Extension Agent Dr. Juan Ancisco of Edinburg said because of inadequate growing conditions, this year's grapefruit is smaller than last year.
"We started this year's harvest a month ahead of time, and we are still on the same pace as last year," he said. "Because we didn't receive any heavy rains this fall, the grapefruit crop hasn't been able to grow as large as last year."
Ancisco said producers are looking at a rough season, because the fresh and local markets are not absorbing the crop, and there is a chance juice manufacturers won't either.
"I've never seen oranges left on trees to drop on their own," he said, "But they may actually drop to the ground this year. We'll have to wait and see."
For Texas Fruit Gift Baskets online, visit K-Y Farms.
