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Crop Report: April 1, 2024
Tomatoes
Organics – Things are looking good. Plants are healthy and progressing as expected.
Pear Tomatoes – Transplanting continues and should be completed by the end of this week or early next week. The plants are going in nicely as the weather and soil conditions are excellent.
Conventional Tomatoes – Transplanting continues. Plants are looking good and for the most part planting conditions have been good until the rain hit late this week which halted transplanting.
Transplanting will resume, depending upon how much rain we get from this little system that passes through, mid week of next week.
Peaches
Modesto/Madera/Kingsburg – Peach bloom seemed to drag out a little with trees blooming in different waves throughout the orchard. The tops of the trees were slow to bloom. The Klamath variety is just now in full bloom. This could be attributed to rain and cooler weather during bloom or lack of chilling hours. Early blooming varieties have started to break through their jackets with the later blooming varieties just starting to push. Trees have leafed out. Growers will start monitoring orchards for insect movements and nutrient deficiencies. Growers have started irrigating.
Organics – Kingsburg and Madera – Trees are leafing out. Early blooming varieties are pushing out of their jackets. The later blooming varieties are in petal fall and just starting to push. Weeding, suckering and discing orchards while maintenance continues with irrigation repairs and checking hoses. Crop protection materials are being applied and irrigating as needed.
Marysville/Yuba City – The Northern District has a substantial amount of bloom set on the tree so far. The varieties that set early (i.e. Starn, Loadel, Late Ross) are having their crowns dying off as the peach is in its early stages of growth. The varieties that set later (i.e. Stanislaus, Klamath) are not too far behind. The official total chilling hours were recorded at 781 hours for the Yuba/Sutter region, making it the lowest in the past 8 years. Ideally, peach trees need around 800-1000 chilling hours. Despite the low chilling hours, the crop is looking healthy and bountiful.
Pears
River and Linden Districts – We had cooler weather last weekend that included a hail event. Since the bloom is progressing slowly the hail didn’t damage the crop. It is a staggered bloom this year. There are pears in various stages from swollen buds to red pears. Growers are worried that their crop will be down significantly from last year, but it is to early to tell which pears will set.
Mendocino and Lake Districts – Bloom is starting. Bloom is hit or miss in areas, similar to the River. Bloom can be seen in various stages. Lake County bloom appears to be a little better than Mendocino. Still to early to tell how the crop will set.
PNW – The NW Bartlett pear crop is expected to be an average crop. Growers are pruning, ready for frost control and using their IPM techniques and strategies to keep the crop clean. Yakima Lower Valley degree day accumulation is 11-16 days ahead of last year, 9-13 days ahead of the 30-year average.
Grapes
Official bunch counts should be available next week, but early indications are we could have a full crop in our southernmost vineyards. Our Fresno and Madera vineyards are not too far behind, but still too early to get an idea of crop potential. Crop protection material continues to be applied as needed along with all other cultural practices.
Cherries
The Northwest cherry crop is looking good. We expect an average or better crop. Most growers have completed or are close to completing their pruning and are applying their first cover applications for disease and insect control. Salem degree day accumulation is 21-25 days ahead of last year, 15 days ahead of normal. The Dalles 13-16 days ahead of last year, close to the 10-year average.
Apricots
Signs of bloom are still present in almost all orchards. There is a wide range of bloom stages. There have been trees with almond size apricots along with pea size apricots and then higher up in the tree you can see newly opened flowers. This is the result of over a month and a half of blooming along with cooler weather arriving right after bloom began. Low chilling hours play a part as well. With so many leaves already present and fruit still small it is hard to see exactly what we have out there. Most likely the late blooming apricots won’t make it. Time will tell. Irrigating has begun in orchards where replants are present. Cultural practices continue in all orchards.
Apples
The NW apple crop is expected to be an average crop. Growers are busy with their good agricultural practices to ensure a clean crop of apples. Washington apple growing areas degree days are 11-20 ahead of last year, 0-16 days ahead of the 30-year average.