Raisins Continued from Page 7
“When we were farming the Thompson seedless for their parents, there would be years that my dad and my uncle would need anywhere from 800 to 1,200 pickers,” he said. The crew would handpick the grapes and lay them out on hundreds of paper trays on the ground along the vineyard rows, where they would dry in the sun for about three weeks, Loquaci said. Depending on the weather, workers were needed to turn the grapes to ensure they dried evenly on both sides. When the raisins were almost dry, a crew would roll up the raisins in each tray, Loquaci noted, and leave it in the vine- yard rows. This step created a solar-oven effect to equalize the moisture in the rai- sins. When the raisins were ready, another crew would gather the rolls throughout the vineyard and carry them to bins. Now, a harvesting machine handles nearly all those steps, Loquaci said. “The machine goes over the top of the vine, and when it hits the area where the raisins are, it just shakes them off, and they land on conveyors,” he said. Conveyors carry the raisins to a chute that drops the raisins into bins pulled by a tractor alongside the harvester in the adjacent row. The bins are loaded onto trucks and taken to the River Ranch Raisins processing facility.
Richard Loquaci holds raisins during harvest last fall at the farm he manages in Madera County. The grapes are vine-dried and used to make Life’s Grape’s raisin snacks.
Depending on weather conditions, harvest usually takes about three weeks to a month between late August and early October. Once the raisins are off the vines, farmers prepare for the next growing season. “Right after harvest, we irrigate, because when they’re drying, we don’t want mois- ture,” Loquaci said. In the winter, crews prune the vines and tie the canes to trellises. In the spring, they
focus on irrigating, managing pests and dis- eases, and fertilizing. In late July or August, when the grapes are ripe, up to 150 workers go through the vineyard and sever the canes from each vine but leave them tied to the trellises. The grapes are left to dry on the vine for about six to eight weeks, depending on the weather, until the fall harvest. Loquaci said he and his family enjoy eat- ing the fruits of his labor.
“I really like the (Life’s Grape) clas- sics on my salads, and I like the peanut butter for a little sweet snack,” he said. “They’re sweet, they’re plump, and they’re not hard or crunchy. They’re just great.” (Linda DuBois is assistant editor of California Bountiful ® magazine, where this article first appeared in the September/ October 2023 issue. She may be contacted at ldubois@californiabountiful.com.)
Agricultural Market Review
Quotations are the latest available for the week ending January 5, 2024
Year Ago Week Ago Latest Week
Livestock
Slaughter Steers – 5-Area Average Select & Choice, 1325–1630 lbs., $/cwt. Hogs – Average hog, 51-52% lean, Iowa-Minn. market, $/cwt. Slaughter Lambs – $ per cwt. 125–175 lbs. National weekly live sales Field crops – basis prompt shipment Cotton – ¢ per lb., Middling 1 3/32” Fresno spot market Corn – U.S. No. 2 yellow $/bu. trucked Alfalfa Hay – $ per ton, quality * , FOB Region 1, Northern Inter-mountain
157
No quote
172-173
75.54
64.09
65.43
123-180
146-216
186
82.13
79.37
79.35
No quote
No quote
6.52
No quote
No quote
No quote
Region 2, Sacramento Valley
No quote
No quote 16.50 (P, per bale)
Region 3, Northern San Joaquin Valley
No quote
No quote
218-220 (P)
Region 4, Central San Joaquin Valley
No quote
No quote
250 (P)
Region 5, Southern California
No quote
No quote 19.50 (P, per bale)
Region 6, Southeast Interior
No quote
No quote
190-210 (P)
Rice – Milled #1 Head, FOB No. Calif. mills Medium grain, $ per cwt.
No quote
No quote
No quote
Provided by the California Farm Bureau as a service to Farm Bureau members. Information supplied by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Market News Branch.
*ADF=Acid detergent fiber; (S) = Supreme/<27%ADF; (P) = Premium/27-29; (G) = Good/29-32; (F) = Fair/32-35.
8 Ag Alert January 10, 2024
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