Crop Report: March 13th, 2023
Tomatoes
Organics – Transplanting began Wednesday, March 8th. This is ten days later than expected due to 3¼” inches of rain that fell prior to the planned date. Weather forecasters are predicting rain on and off throughout the rest of this week and into early next week. If the predictions are correct transplanting may not resume until late next week.
Pear Tomatoes – Have not started transplanting yet.
Conventional Tomatoes – Have not started transplanting yet. Transplanting will begin on approximately April 1, 2023. Two weeks later than ideal. Recent rainstorms emanating from the current atmospheric river will delay our transplanting into April and likely push our first day of harvest to August 5, 2023.
Peaches
Full bloom for the Kingsburg area is expected by the end of the week or early this week. The cooler wet weather slowed down the peach bloom. Modesto area bloom has been slowed by the cooler wet weather as well. The late varieties are anywhere from 40%-70% bloom with the earlies trailing at 5%-10% bloom. The extra earlies are just now starting to show pink bud except for the Calaveras which has already surpassed full bloom. Bud set appears adequate with good crop potential. Some growers continue to prune.
Crop protection materials are being applied as weather permits.
Organics – American and Calaveras varieties are at full bloom while the Kader is almost at full bloom. Ross are at 75% bloom, Stanislaus and Ultra Early #3 are at 5% bloom. Other varieties are still working on bud break. Bloom sprays are being applied as weather permits. Some of the Americans are showing blast damage, but it is currently very minimal.
Marysville/Yuba City – Bloom looks promising with the first blooming varieties, Calaveras, Kader, Late Ross, and Ross in full bloom or rapidly approaching. Growers are busy applying bloom sprays as rainy weather permits and tying up trees. Full bloom should be called this week.
Pears
River and Linden Districts – The winter has been cold and wet. Growers were able to prune orchards in between rainstorms. Lots of buds can be seen on the trees, but they are still very tight.
Mendocino and Lake Districts – Growers have not had to irrigate at all. On February 23rd both counties received snow. It varied from a couple of inches in Mendocino County to 12 inches in Lake County. Growers managed to get orchards pruned before the storms. The cold weather has delayed bloom development.
Grapes
All vineyards have been pruned and tied. Starting to see vineyards move out of dormancy.
Cherries
At this time, 2023 cherry bud development is two weeks behind last year.
Apricots
Full bloom was called on February 26th, this is 5-days earlier than last year. The recent cold weather has slowed things down a bit, but no damage has been detected. Maturity in each block seems to be uniform, which is a good thing. Chill units well above normal along with all the precipitation, has been a good thing for apricots. Crop potential looks very promising, but we have a long way to go before any fruit is picked. Hopefully Mother Nature cooperates, and we will have an outstanding mid-June apricots harvest.