Ag Alert Aug 4, 2021

Lemons Continued from Page 3

hisneighborhood, noting that preparation for this goeswell beyondpruning the tree. “A standard prune is, you take some suckersoff, youmight take someoldwood off—that kindof thing,”Mauritson said. In this case, “they’ll actually take some limbs off andreduce the treemassbyabout half.” If water materializes the next year, the farmer can start regrowing the tree. Meanwhile, Mauritson said, “they’re not going to get any crop off their trees this year, and they most likely will not have a very good crop next year.” Resorting to deficit irrigation is “a very, very difficult choice” for farmers tomake, Teague said. “If you look at the capital input to a per- manent crop, that just hurts when you ei- ther have to pull it or deficit-irrigate it, or just not count onanything fromit,”Teague said. “That’s a lot of fixed capital that you put in there that’s flushingdown the toilet, so to speak.” Themain thing farmers cando is “beon top of this water game”—knowing where to take advantage of surface water deliv- eries or recharge—and that will depend on location and water rights, said Casey Creamer, president of California Citrus Mutual inExeter. Farmers on the east side of the Central Valley, for example, might have good surfacewater rights but little to no access to groundwater, he said.

Lemons are har- vested in a Ventura County orchard in this file photo. Farmers say the return of food service has increased demand for the crop, but lack of rain has re- sulted in smaller fruit.

“It’s good inwet years, but in dry years, that can be extremely challenging,” Creamer said. “That’s a different deci- sion than somebody who’s completely reliant on groundwater pumping.” That farmer, he added, has to deal with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, the 2014 law that seeks to regulate groundwater pumping. One market that bloomed during the pandemic—retail—will still be “very im- portant,” Creamer said. “I think habits have definitely changed with COVID,” Creamer said. “I don’t see a major drop-off on the retail side of things. More people are cooking at

home, and so even as things open up, retail is still going to be a very important part of our business.” Doty’s biggest fear, he said, is that the coronavirus’ Delta variant could prompt another round of restaurant and bar shutdowns. “You see lemons in cocktails and wa- ter,” Doty said, adding that if “they start shutting down restaurants again, that’ll hurt big time.”

Miller said prices have improved over 2020, by about 25% to 30%per bin. “Having said that, last yearwas formany growers a losing proposition,”Miller said. “Even though it’s improved, they’re get- ting up to where they should be able to cover their cultural costs andmaybemake a little bit of money.” (Kevin Hecteman i s an ass i stant editor of Ag Alert. He may be contacted at khecteman@cfbf.com.)

Agricultural Market Review

Quotations are the latest available for the week ending July 30, 2021 Year Ago Week Ago Latest Week Livestock Slaughter Steers – 5-Area Average Select & Choice, 1050–1150 lbs., $ per cwt. 95-96 117-120 118-119 Hogs – Average hog, 51-52% lean, Iowa-Minn. market, $ per cwt. 52.41 109.98 110.05 Slaughter Lambs – $ per cwt. 125–175 lbs. National weekly live sales No Quote 200-275 201-286.46 Field crops – basis prompt shipment Barley – U.S. No. 2, $ per cwt. Truck, Stockton-Modesto-Oakdale-Turlock No Quote No Quote No Quote Cotton – ¢ per lb., Middling 1 3/32” Fresno spot market 63.23 80.80 81.31 Corn – U.S. No. 2 yellow $ per cwt. trucked 8.16 8.05 7.98 Alfalfa Hay – $ per ton, quality*, FOB Region 1, Northern Inter-mountain 195-200 (P/S) 220 (P) 230-240 (P/S) Region 2, Sacramento Valley 170 (F) No Quote No Quote Region 3, Northern San Joaquin Valley 210-255 (P/S) 225-285 (G) 250-255 (G/P) Region 4, Central San Joaquin Valley No Quote 230 (G) No Quote Region 5, Southern California 255-280 (P) 215 (G) 225 (G) Region 6, Southeast Interior 150 (F/G) 210-220 (G) 210 (G/P) Oat Hay – $ per ton, quality*, FOB Northern California, dairy No Quote No Quote Oats – U.S. No. 2 white, $ per cwt. Statewide, trucked price No Quote No Quote 215 (G)

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Dry Beans – Grower FOB prices Baby Limas, $ per cwt, (sacked) Large Limas, $ per cwt. (sacked) Blackeye, $ per cwt. (sacked)

No Quote No Quote No Quote

Rice – Milled No. 1 Head, FOB No. Calif. mills Medium grain, $ per cwt. Wheat – U.S. No. 2 or better, winter, $ per cwt. 13% protein, Los Angeles, trucked price

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No Quote 215 (G) 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. No Quote

August 4, 2021 Ag Alert 11