CALIFORNIA
Vegetables A SPECIAL GROWERS’ REPORT OF AG ALERT ®
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Garlic farmers cautiously optimistic after a wet year By Nancy Vigran Garlic harvest is underway in the San Joaquin Valley, and growers say they are enjoying a productive season. “It’s a good crop this year,” said Robert Ehn, CEO and technical manager for the California Garlic and Onion Research Committee. He described the 2023 growing season as “perfect,” adding, “Mother Nature has taken care of us.” California remains the top grower of garlic in the nation, producing nearly all of the supply. But China, the world’s largest garlic producer, continues to dominate the global market, accounting for more than 80% of garlic exports worldwide. “We’ve really been hammered by imports from China,” Ehn said. The companies provide the starter plants that growers use. Starting in early summer, the companies return to harvest the crop, a process that often runs through Thanksgiving. The vast majority of California’s garlic is grown in Fresno County, where the crop was valued at $286 million in the harsh drought year of 2021, down from $396 million in 2020. Water supply “dictates what I can and cannot grow,” said Fresno County grower Mark Borba of Borba Farms. For the past three years, Borba, who grows garlic for Christopher Ranch in Gilroy, has dedicated less than 50% of his farm’s acreage to growing garlic. He planted about 1,500 acres this year, down from the 2,600 to 2,700 acres he used to grow. Garlic is harvested in Fresno County, where most of the state’s garlic is grown. California remains the nation’s No. 1 producer of the bulb, but growers continue to face competition from China, which dominates the global garlic market.
Other local farmers simply could not commit to any garlic acreage during the past few years, Borba said. Some left land fallow or grew a grain crop with a shorter growing season, allowing them to use less water. “It is hard to farm in a desert without water,” Borba said. With continuing snowmelt from the abundance of precipitation the region received this past winter and spring, Borba said he may increase garlic acreage next year. But any increase, he said, will be small due to the general inconsistency of water supplies. See GARLIC, Page 12
During the past 10 years, state garlic plantings have fluctuated between 23,200 acres in 2013 and 2014 to 33,000 acres in 2017, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. California growers planted 26,000 acres last year, down slightly from 26,500 acres in 2021. Six companies involved in processing and marketing fresh and dehydrated garlic con- tract with growers each year to produce the crop.
July 26, 2023 Ag Alert 11
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