The Department of Agriculture says orange juice production in the United States continues to fall.
U.S. orange juice production peaked during the 1997-98 season at 1.55 million gallons, but has trended lower since then to only 533 million gallons expected for the 2015-16 season.
USDA says the production decline reflects many factors, including the increased prevalence of diseases such as citrus canker and citrus greening, as well as pressures from urbanization in parts of Florida.
Meanwhile, exports of orange juice have remained fairly constant over time, while imports have increased in recent years.
As a result, orange juice availability per capita has trended lower as well, falling from a peak of 6.27 gallons in the 1997-98 season to a forecast low of 2.74 gallons in 2015-16.
USDA says the decline in orange juice consumption over the past decade is consistent with trends that have also been observed for other types of fruit juice and caloric soft drinks in the United States.
