Crop Report: August 9th, 2021
Tomatoes
Conventionals – Harvest continues however, we are not as far along in tonnage as we typically would be for this time of year. It is taking fields a little longer to ripen despite high day time temperatures. We anticipate harvest to pick up in the coming weeks as more fields ripen and are ready for harvest.
San Marzano Style – Harvest completed last Friday in a somewhat disappointing fashion. Although our quality of plum tomatoes was quite good and yield per tons delivered was exceptional, our crop came in at 55% of desired. Products that use this tomato will be limited on availability due to this unforeseen outcome.
Organics – Harvest and production completed at the Woodland canning facility at 6am on Monday, June 26th. In review, our organic tomato crop picked out at 73% of expectations with a disappointing yield that affected our peeling percentage and total cases produced this summer.
Peaches
Organics – Harvest continues and is going well. All normal cultural practices continue in all orchards.
Conventionals – Harvest continues and we are approaching the peak of season. Late varieties are experiencing sporadic ripening; some fruit is very green and other blocks are ripe and ready for harvest. Fruit quality continues to look good. Fruit size and labor continue to be an issue for growers in the North. Weather temperatures remain below average due to the overcast of smoke from the Dixie Fire which will hinder fruit growth and overall sizing.
Pears
River and Linden District growers are wrapping up harvest. Mendocino and Lake District growers received letters from the State Water Resources Control Board ordering them to cease use of water from the Russian River Watershed. Most growers have already used enough water in their orchards to get them through harvest. However, many are worried about the long term loss of water and how it will affect their other crops. Harvest in these districts will begin next week.
Grapes
Harvest has begun. There is some crop loss due to the rot and raisining in the vineyards from the high heat this season. Growers continue normal cultural practices including irrigation as needed.
Cherries
Growers are nearly finished with harvest. Next week will be the last week of receiving cherries.
Apricots
Harvest has finished. Fruit quality was clean throughout harvest. Sizing issues were apparent but growers helped to sort out small fruit. Based on trends next season will be a smaller crop however growers will do what they can to mitigate if possible.
Mango
Harvest was late but overall quality is good and ample. Plants continue to face impacts from COVID as they struggled with labor. We continue to face increased costs due to labor and raw material cost increases.
Pineapple
COVID continues to hinder the workforce as labor typically comes into these countries from other Southeast Asian countries. Because of this, plants are operating at 65% capacity and are not running as efficient. Crop looks ample & positive for this summer’s pack as well as the winter crop.
Oysters
This year’s crop was good. Overall size was slightly smaller than average. We continue to face increased costs due to supply chain and COVID regulations.
Peaches
Peaches in Greece were effected by a large frost event that occurred during bloom this spring. This has effected the overall volume for this harvest. Pricing is still not determined. Chinese peaches suffered fruit loss as well due to weather. Fruit cost has gone up over 20%.