Crop Report: June 5, 2023
Tomatoes
Organics – First day of organic harvest: 7/17/2023
Things continue to look good. Seeing a lot of fruit developing on the plants. Weather has been very mild this week. Good growing conditions with very minimal amount of blossom drop.
Pear Tomatoes – First day of pear tomato harvest: 7/27/2023
Plants are looking healthy. Starting to see blooms on the early plantings. Still about a week to ten days until full bloom.
Conventional Tomatoes – Woodland harvest: 1st week of August
Transplanting continues with some growers. A few finished last week and few will finish this week and the rest should be finished by end of next week or early the following week. The fields that have been planted are still looking good and maturing. This week’s temperatures have been relatively mild for this time of the year. Great growing conditions.
Peaches
First day of harvest: 7/05/2023
Modesto/Madera/Kingsburg – Growers continue to thin their orchards. Some orchards have required very little thinning with just some cluster breaking while heavier set orchards required more extensive thinning. Labor has not been an issue. Results of the first round of Reference Date sizing was 37.4mm; same as last year’s sizing. Block by block estimates are underway. Normal cultural practices continue.
First day of organic harvest: 6/15/2023
Organic – Kingsburg – Thinning is done. Estimated start date of June 15th, two weeks later than last year. Irrigating and normal cultural practices continue. Madera – Thinning the Klamath and Stanislaus. Suckering trees as they thin. Irrigation and weed cultivation continues.
Marysville/Yuba City – This year’s crop continues to run approximately two weeks off the normal reference date. Warmer weather could push harvest date forward by a few days, but the north will be hard pressed to make up any significant ground. Fruit size is above the northern ten-year average at 36.9 mm compared to 34.9 mm historically. Growers continue to thin late blooming varieties.
Pears
First day of harvest: 7/19/2023
River and Linden – Pears are measuring 1.25”-1.6”. Growers think the crop is off 10-15% from last year but feel like there is still enough pears to fulfill their obligations. Growers continue to irrigate and maintain cultural practices.
Mendocino and Lake – Mendocino orchards saw a big fruit drop. The orchard floor was covered with fruit. There are still plenty of pears left in the trees. Growers just finished their first irrigation. Lake County orchards still have a nice crop. Sizing sprays started last week in the Bakersfield/Earlimart area. The Madera area should begin their sizing sprays anytime. Except for one grower in the Shafter area, it sounds like everyone should meet their required tonnage obligations. The forecast
continues to show mild weather with a warmer than usual day sprinkled in. Conditions have been ideal to this point. Cultural practices continue in all orchards.
PNW – Bartlett pear crop continues to look good. The pear crop set is a full crop with clean and well-formed fruit.
Grapes
First day of harvest: 8/01/2023
Sizing sprays started last week in the Bakersfield/Earlimart area. The Madera area should begin their sizing sprays anytime. Except for one grower in the Shafter area, it sounds like everyone should meet their required tonnage obligations. The forecast continues to show mild weather with a warmer than usual day sprinkled in. Conditions have been ideal to this point. Cultural practices continue in all orchards.
Cherries
First day of harvest: 6/15/2023
PCP’s cherry crop is shorter than estimated previously. Orchards are starting to show a broad spread in crop set between our lightest and heaviest sets. The hot weather at bloom caused a flash bloom which did not set heavy. The lowers did not live long enough to complete pollination and fertilization of the fruit. The cherries started to grow, broke out of the shuck, then turned red and dropped or withered on the tree. Crop development is moving fast. The degree accumulation is now ahead of both last year and the 10-year average. We have a few early orchards starting to fade from green to yellow.
Apricots
First day of harvest: 6/19/2023
Apricots are sizing well. There has been a significant drop of fruit, which is normal this time of year. There is still plenty of fruit even with the drop. Hail damage can be seen in almost all orchards, and it is still unclear how much it will affect production. Fruit has begun to turn a pale green, which means we are about 3-weeks from harvest. The tentative start date for harvest is still around June 19th. There may be a grower or two that start a few days before that. Cultural practices continue in all orchards.