Dear Farmer, Do you know How Your Crops are Valued for Compensation After a Natural Disaster?

The 2017 NCT (Appendix A) reflected data for oranges such as mandarins («MND»), Navel («NAV»), Valencia («VLN»), Creole («SWT») and lemons. Surprisingly, when comparing the NCT data (Appendix C) with the IBA report (Appendix B), the latter does not make distinctions by variety in the case of the Chinese ones. How is it then that FSA manages to arrange different prices between mandarins and Navel, Valencia, or Creole Oranges? In addition, the IBA report (Appendix B) measures in «thousands» the oranges, while the NCT, 2012-2017, (Appendix C) measures oranges in 45-pound boxes. On the other hand, in the conversion sheet provided by FSA (Appendix E, p. 13), the measure for oranges is based on 40-pound boxes.

For FSA, the average 45-pound boxes, produced by acre for oranges, is 137 boxes (6,165 lb. or 3,085 tons). This average remains the same since 2013.  It’s unclear where that average of 6,165 pounds per acre comes from. The closest data seems to be one that refers to the average production of a 5-year-old orchard, since for that age corresponds the approximate production of 6,600 pounds per acre (Again, see Annex D, p. 13). However, the information itself in the hands of FSA (Appendix D) provides that a 7-year-old tree produces 56,075 fruits per acre (57,750 fruits per “cuerda”). In that case, the equivalence to pounds would be approximately 22,400 or 497 boxes of 45 pounds. Therefore, those farmers with citrus orchards older than 5 years, did not necessarily obtain a reasonable compensation, since everything seems to indicate that FSA arbitrarily determined that the average production per acre in Puerto Rico will be that of a 5-year citrus orchard, instead of obtaining the production averages taken in the field. How much additional money could orange growers (except mandarins) have received if the average production per acre had been adequately reflected in the production in the field instead of the 6,165 pounds adopted by FSA? 

According to the IBA report (Appendix B) the prices of oranges have been as follows: in 2010, $73.84/thousand; in 2011, 83.87/thousand; in 2012, $85.15/thousand; in 2013, $89.97/thousand; in 2014, $97.85/thousand; in 2015, $88.84/thousand; in 2016, $148.17; and in 2017, $151.56. FSA says that the conversion factor (Appendix D) for oranges is that 1,000 fruits weigh 400 pounds: 2.5 fruits per pound. Therefore, a thousand equals 4 quintals or 8.88 boxes of 45 pounds. In the case of mandarins, 1,000 fruits equal 166 lb. or 3.68 boxes of 45 lbs. For its part, the NCT 2012 states that a box of 45 lb. had an average (Olympic) price of $7.75 (excluding mandarins). This equates to $68.82 per thousand. The 2013 NCT reflects a 45-pound per box of oranges with a price of $9.90, equivalent to $87.91 per thousand. The 2014NCT has $8.70 per box, equivalent to $77.26 per thousand. In 2015, 2016 and 2018, the average price was $10.14 per 45-pound box, equivalent to $90/thousand. In the year of the hurricane, 2017, the NCT reflected an average price of $10.06 per 45-pound box of oranges (except mandarins), equivalent to $89.33. This contrasts sharply with the price in the IBA report for 2017 of $151.56 per thousand. Following the Olympic average rule, if the 5-year data of the IBA report for oranges, prior to 2017 (2012-2016) are used, eliminating the highest and lowest value, the resulting average is $92.22/thousand fruits or $10.38/box of 45-pounds: $0.32 less for each box. Note that from the data of the 2017 NCT (Appendix A), taking into consideration that one pound of oranges consists of 2.5 fruits, the price per fruit is $0.09.

Based on FSA conversion factors (Appendix E, p. 13), in the case of lemons, 1,000 fruits equal 80 pounds: 12.5 fruits per pound. In the information made public by FSA, it appears that one acre of Tahiti limes produces 825 25-pound boxes or 20,625 pounds (458 45-pound boxes) This is for a 5-year-old lime/lemon orchard, according to FSA conversion data (Appendix E, p. 18). However, in the NCT, it appears that one acre of limes/lemons produces 92 boxes of 45 pounds; this equates to 4,140 pounds per acre. In the 2017 NCT (Appendix A) limes/lemons appear with a CDY of 32.2 with a percent compared to the CEY of 35%. Where did the remaining 128.1 boxes of 45 pounds of lemons go?

In the case of limes and lemons, between 2012 and 2014, there has been a substantial increase in the average price per box of 45 pounds, according to NCT (Appendix C) of $59.46 and $73.15 respectively; $96.75 from 2015 to 2018. As a thousand limes/lemons equals 80 pounds, it can be deduced that it also equals 1.77 boxes of 45 pounds. Therefore, the price per box of lemons in the NCT is equivalent to $105.24/thousand (2012), $139.48/thousand (2014), and $171.25/thousand (2015 to 2018). These numbers should be compared with the IBA report (Appendix B) which reflects: 2010, $143.48/thousand; 2011, $171.92/thousand; 2012, $92.34/thousand; 2013, $88.68/thousand; 2014, $93.32/thousand; 2015, $103.93/thousand; 2016 $143.25/thousand; and 2017, $151.92/thousand. If FSA has been using data from the Department of Agriculture, how is it possible that its Olympic averages are above the dataset numbers? Note that from the 2017 NCT data (Appendix A), considering that a pound of limes or lemons consists of 12.5 fruits, the average price per fruit on that date was $0.17.