Organics – The harvest is winding down. We have a few days this week until we will be finished. This was a very difficult, albeit successful organic tomato year! Our start-up days were met with few new technology struggles and a heat wave throughout our harvest harmed our yield. Organic tomato quality, however, was likely our best in history!
San Marzano Style, Pear Tomatoes– Harvest will begin this week. So far, fruit quality continues to look promising in the field. We plan to run 15 days of San Marzano style in our Woodland facility.
Conventional Tomatoes – We are roughly two weeks into harvest and the fruit looks of good quality considering the extreme heat we have been through. Starting August 5th, we should be moving into harvesting the mid-season plantings. Crops continue to look good, and we are hopeful that we will see decent yields, weather permitting.
Modesto/Madera/Kingsburg – We should finally finish the Early varieties next week. If growers deliver what is on the estimate, we will come in around 94% of Block x Block estimate for the Extra Earlies. We are currently only 13% done with Earlies but have started picking a few Lates. This summer’s extreme heat has caused the Early varieties to slow down as they are not ripening or growing as fast as expected, but the Late varieties are coming on with some Ross deliveries by the end of the week. Mixed maturity will continue to be an issue with orchards ripening sporadically and yield will continue to be a problem as some peaches have stopped sizing.
Madera – We started picking the Kader yesterday and picked the outside edges of the Vilmos. We will start picking the Klamath next week. With the persistent heat we had prior to the harvest season, we are noticing some varieties that typically come after Early varieties are coming sooner than some Early varieties. The Ross variety, which is a late variety and notorious for ripening fast, is pushing its color quickly. While it is ripening, it is not sizing due to various factors such as heat, bloom length, and not thinning enough. We are working with all our growers to stay vigilant about small fruit. We are also coming up to the busiest two weeks of the season with roughly half of the peaches in the North coming off within that timeframe.
Organic Peaches – Kingsburg – We should finish the Stanislaus by the end of the week then back into the Kingsburg Kling to finish with a second pick. This is the last variety for the Kingsburg area.
River and Linden Districts – Growers are finally picking field loads for cannery deliveries. It has been a long start up. Growers have been pushing off picking as long as they can in hopes the fruit will gain size. Next week will be the largest week for deliveries and we hope the pressures will continue to hold. Some experts estimate a California pear crop that could be 25% lighter than initially expected.
Mendocino and Lake Districts – Anticipated harvest date for some Mendocino growers is late next week. Crop volume is small in Mendocino. Lake County growers will follow shortly after. Their crop appears to have a decent set.
Pacific Northwest – Bartlett pear harvest will start August 12th. The crop is clean and continuing to develop. The heat wave two weeks ago reduced the pear size and delayed the harvest by a few days. Growers are putting out bins and preparing for harvest.
Bakersfield – Madera -There have been reports of rain in both districts, but it was very light and should have no negative effects on overall quality. Size seems to be the biggest challenge at the moment. Growers have made adjustment to keep bunches with undersized berries out of bins, which has helped. We will start harvesting in the Madera area on August 7th.
Harvest began on June 7, 2024, and completed on July 31, 2024.
Harvest began on June 10, 2024 and completed on June 28, 2024.
Pacific Northwest apple crop continues to look good for quality and quantity. Growers are continuing their cultural practices of irrigating and crop protection.
