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Grape growers cope with weather and
competition
By
Steve Adler
Posted on June 7, 2011
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After
working through an early frost and continuing cool
temperatures, table grape harvest is actively under way
in the Coachella Valley, with growers reporting good
quality and large bunches.
Harvest
in the Coachella Valley will continue through May and
June, before the grape harvest moves to other production
areas in the San Joaquin Valley. Growers in the
Coachella region harvest an average of 6 million
19-pound boxes with a value of more than $100 million.
"The
cool weather pushed us back from where we thought we
would start based on the normal, telltale signs," said
John Burton of Peter Rabbit Farms in Coachella. "We
might go a couple days longer at the end of the season,
but it doesn't necessarily equate to the same extension.
It usually means you bunch up somewhere in the middle."
Burton
said growers in the Coachella Valley are currently
harvesting early varieties of table grapes such as
perlette and flame seedless. Prices have declined
somewhat as harvest picks up momentum, but overall the
return to growers is acceptable, he said.
"Prices
started off in a safe zone and they have tumbled a
little faster than I would have liked to see. But, all
in all, we are happy with where the market is now. I
would say the value for the grapes the consumers are
getting is right in line," Burton said. "The grapes are
sweet and our brix count right now is at a level that we
had hoped for at this time of year."
Perhaps
the biggest challenge for Coachella Valley grape growers
is the competition from grapes coming into the United
States from Mexico. This head-to-head competition will
continue until the table grape harvest begins in the San
Joaquin Valley in July.
"Mexico's window is now and they are coming across the
border with lots of Mexican grapes. It affects our
market in a very big way. The market solely belongs to
California when the San Joaquin Valley guys start up.
Until then we are going to battle Mexican product for
the entire months of May and June," Burton said. "Every
year we have the same thing."
California farmers also participate as active sellers in
international markets. Table grapes ranked No. 7 among
California's agricultural exports in 2009—the most
recent year for which full statistics are available—with
international sales of $594 million. Canada is the top
foreign market for California table grapes, buying more
than one-third of the state's exports.
"Strong
demand in export markets has been a key to the strength
of California's fresh grape industry," said Kathleen
Nave, president of the California Table Grape
Commission. "Expanding markets and maintaining strong
demand in the U.S. and in export markets has been vital
to this industry's ability to survive and even grow
despite the challenges that farmers everywhere in the
U.S. face."
Farther
north in Kern County, table grape grower Mark Hall of
Wheeler Ridge reported that this year's crop set is
"really good" on most varieties, including flame
seedless, crimson seedless, red globe and autumn royal.
"In
general, everything indicates that we will have a big
crop this year. I have heard that some people have had a
few problems with autumn royal, a black seedless
variety, that some people have had some light crop this
year," he said.
Hall
said grape development is running about six days behind
average. He estimated that harvest in Kern County will
start up around the 4th of July and continue until
Thanksgiving. There are several varieties of table
grapes grown in California—some with early maturity and
some with later—which allows for a longer harvest
season.
"I've
been growing table grapes for 30 years, and it is more
of an art than a science," he said. "We are selling our
grapes for about the same amount of money that we sold
them for 30 years ago, but we are still in business
because we are getting higher yields."
In
Fresno County, Kerman grower Paul Lanfranco said all
indications point to a table grape crop that is larger
than last year's.
"I grow
crimson seedless grapes, and this year the bunches look
longer with bigger shoulders than the previous year. The
bunches were smaller than normal last year so in
comparison, the bunch count looks to be better and the
formation of the bunches looks better," he said.
While
table grape production is more labor intensive than many
other crops, farmers report that they expect to be able
to hire an ample number of experienced employees.
"As of
right now we have no labor shortages," Lanfranco said.
"At the present time, we are pulling leaves to get
better sunlight penetration through the vine canopy. We
should start harvest in the middle to latter part of
September and it will go about six weeks."
As in
all areas of agriculture at the present time, higher
production costs are taking a toll.
"Our
input costs for fuel to fertilizers and everything else
have gone up. Hopefully, that will be reflected in a
better price this year. But prices for all other
commodities are up, so I see no reason why it shouldn't
be the same for table grapes," Lanfranco said. "We need
to get a higher price to just pay for our increased
expenses."
Overall, California growers produced nearly 100 million
boxes of fresh grapes during the 2010 season. The total
value of the crop for the 2010 season was $1.3 billion.
California's fresh grape season runs through January.
Last season, 45 percent of the volume was shipped
between October and December. The top variety by volume
was crimson seedless, with 19.3 million boxes, followed
by flame seedless, red globe and Thompson seedless.
(Source:
California Farm Bureau Federation, May 2011. Published on
ExperienceClovis.com with permission. All rights
reserved.)
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