The U.S. Department of Agriculture reduced its orange crop forecast for the 2011-2012 season by two million boxes this week, estimating Florida will now produce 145 million boxes.

“It’s truly amazing Florida growers can once again produce such a quality crop in the face of immense challenges such as HLB, or citrus greening,” said Michael W. Sparks, executive VP/CEO of Florida Citrus Mutual. “This is a testament to the resiliency of our growers and the fact they are the best in the world, bar none.”