Take an inside look at the 2023 peach harvest.
Crop Report: July 31, 2023
Tomatoes
Currently harvesting!
Organics – Still experiencing triple digit daytime temperatures, and it seems to be more of the same next week as well. Good news so far is that our grower has been able to keep drip irrigation running during the extreme heat and thus keeping the organic tomato plants healthy. Harvest began on 7/23/23.
First day of pear tomato harvest: 8/18/2023
Pear Tomatoes – The crop continues to mature and is growing very nicely. So far, the extreme heat has shown little effect on the crop. We’ll continue to monitor.
Woodland harvest: Currently harvesting!
Conventional Tomatoes – Early crop continues to look good despite the high temperatures during the day. It’s possible to begin harvest at a very slow rate late next week. Mid and late season plantings seem to be hanging in there with the extreme heat we’re experiencing this week. Daytime temperatures are predicted to be in the triple digits next week as well.
Peaches
Modesto/Madera/Kingsburg – We continue to encourage growers to two-pick their orchards due to uneven ripening. The outside edges of the orchards prove to have quality issues but as they move further into the orchard, quality improves. We are seeing split-pits in the Stanislaus variety. The recent warmer than average temperatures didn’t help any either. We are pushing growers to start picking earlier to avoid receiving soft fruit. The Kader, Andross and Klamath varieties are starting to show color. All cultural practices continue.
Marysville/Yuba City – Growers continue to prepare for the season. The north-peach district will see six days straight of over 100 degrees heat in the coming week, which will help to move ripening along. The best estimate for the start of the Loadel peach variety harvest is still the week of July 17th.
Currently harvesting organics!
Organic – Selma – Finished up the Big Bens. Finished the first pick of the Stanislaus and will start the second pick on Saturday. Kingsburg Kling will start next week. Irrigation and all cultural practices continue. Madera – Continue picking the Stanislaus and should finish by the end of the week. Still waiting for the Vilmos and Kader to ripen. Irrigation and cultural practices continue.
Pears
Currently harvesting!
River and Linden – Fruit has grown considerably since last week but is still on the smaller size. Fruit brought to the “Pear Punch” passed, however growers are waiting until Monday the 24th to start delivering to the fresh market in hopes of gaining some size this week. Field deliveries to PCP won’t start until the following week.
Mendocino and Lake – Fruit is developing.
Growers anticipate making their full estimated tons. Harvest will start in the middle of August.
Pacific Northwest – Pacific Northwest pears remain at a full crop potential with good quality. The orchards are being irrigated and managed for heat stress. Fresh Bartlett harvest estimated to start August 10-12.
Grapes
First day of harvest:~8/5/2023
We still look to be about 12 days behind last year. We have a few more days of extreme heat until temperatures should return to normal for this time of year. The extreme heat will not help speed up ripening, it will slow it down. We are still anticipating an August 7th start date. There is a chance we could go a few days earlier, if necessary, but Brix will be on the low side. Irrigations and cultural practices continue in both districts.
Cherries
Currently harvesting!
Cherry harvest volumes will be high for the next two weeks. Fresh packing will peak over the weekend and be strong for the next two weeks. Packing house deliveries to us will increase next week and continue till the middle of August.
Apricots
Harvest complete!
Apricot harvest concluded on July 7th. We estimated to have 7k tons, and ended with 7.1k!