Budgeting Costs and Returns for Central Florida Citrus Production, 2003-041
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Abstract
Estimated costs and returns of growing round oranges in the Central Florida citrus area are presented for the twentieth consecutive year. Due to the freezes of the 1980s, the Central Florida citrus area refers primarily to Polk and Highlands Counties. The format presented may be used by individual growers to budget costs and returns, utilizing individual data on specific groves.
Key words: citrus, Central Florida, budgeting, costs and returns
NOTE: The Central Florida production area refers to Polk and Highlands Counties. However, the costs presented in this report are applicable to other counties such as Hardee, Hillsborough, Lake, and Orange.
The budgeted cost information presented herein is the most current available. The budget cost items have been revised to reflect current grove practices being used by growers (e.g., chemical mowing, different spray materials and rates of fertilization, microsprinkler irrigation, more reset trees, etc.). Thus, the 2003-04 budget costs reflect lower fertilizer and pesticide materials costs and increased per acre yield due to higher per acre tree densities.
The budget costs in this report represent a custom-managed operation. Therefore, all equipment costs are based on average custom rate costs along with a 10 percent handling and supervision charge added to the material cost.
Although the estimated annual per acre grove costs listed are representative of a mature citrus grove (10+ years old), the grove care costs for a specific grove site may differ depending on tree age, tree density, and grove practices performed (e.g., spot herbicide for grass/brush regrowth under trees could add an additional $19.23 per acre; Diaprepes control could add $73.20 per acre for each foliar application; extensive tree loss due to blight or tristeza could substantially increase the tree replacement and care costs; spray applications to control citrus leafminer and nematicide applications, such as Temik at $122.22 per acre, could increase the total cultural costs per acre above the average costs shown in the comparative budgets; or travel and set-up costs may vary due to size of the citrus grove and distance from grove equipment barn and could add $25.98 per acre).
Footnotes
This is EDIS document FE526, a publication of the Department of Food and Resource Economics, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. Published February 2005. Please visit the EDIS website at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.
Ronald P. Muraro, Professor and Extension farm management economist, Department of Food and Resource Economics, Citrus Research and Education Center, Lake Alfred, FL; W. Greg Hartt, Extension citrus agent, Highlands County, Sebring, FL; and W.C. Oswalt, multi-county Extension citrus agent, Polk and Hillsborough Counties, FL, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
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U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service,
University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative
Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Larry Arrington, Dean.
