Nick Rocca Fresno County almond and raisin grower
In the almonds, we are late on harvest. But we are going to harvest some nonpareils pretty soon. We’re still probably a week if not more behind from last year. A lot of the centers of the trees are still green, which I suppose is a good problem to have because it shows there is much water retention. Related to almond yields, everything across the board is low. The only vari- ety that seems decent is the self-pollinating varieties such as Independence. Thompson seedless grapes are being harvested for wineries to make champagne. When the Thompsons, which are used to make raisins, are low in sugar, they are sold to wineries. At the end of July and beginning of August, a lot of farmers think, I’ve got low sugar, and I’m not going to make as much per ton, so I’m going to harvest it for champagne. I don’t get paid as much, but I have less risk, and harvest costs are lower. On a year where the wine prices are high, farmers will do this, so they’re hedg- ing their bets early. We’re getting ready to cut canes to harvest raisins on some early Thompsons. On what I own, I probably won’t cut canes for another week. We have to have our raisin grapes on the ground for drying by Sept. 25, so we’re going to wait, but the hard part is the shade. We get a lot of shade into September, and the crop doesn’t dry. If you have 10-foot or 11-foot rows, you’re playing this balancing game between not being able to dry your fruit evenly or having enough sugar to dry in a high grade. We planted pumpkins over the Father’s Day weekend. We are going to have a big selection of pumpkins this year, about 15 varieties. With pump- kins, we do online sales, and do some pumpkin patch tours for local schools.
Photo/Courtesy of Nick and Kim Rocca
August 23, 2023 Ag Alert 5
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