Citrus Continued from Page 1
we’re seeing from the field is that it will continue to be a shorter season.” The same holds true for the mandarin crop. Clementine, Tango andW. Murcott mandarin trees—which produce the kid-approved citrus marketed under names such as Cuties and Halos—set an enormous crop, which is one of the con- tributing factors to the light crop for 2021. ANationalAgricultural StatisticsService survey inmultiple California counties re- vealed smaller fruit sizes. Results showed
an average of 290 pieces of fruit per tree andaverage fruit sizeof 1.363 inches indi- ameter. In 2020, average fruit set was 945 pieces of fruit per tree andanaverage fruit size of 1.488 inches in diameter. According to this report, the lower fruit set is due to significant pruning and fruit drop in many of the sampled orchards. Several days of record summer heat causedmany trees to dropwhat little fruit was forming. GrowerMarkLambert of Exeter is expe-
riencing the impacts. “Ingeneral, Iamdownat least 50%inmy Tangos,” he said. “It hurts, but that’s farm- ing.”Lambert alsocitedexcessive summer heat andwildfire smoke as likely stressing his orchards. Lambert saidhewillmodifyhis farming practices slightly, namely pruning trees harder every year soproductionevens out year to year. Other significant factors are impacting California citrus growers. Creamer said they continue to face increasing costs of bringing a crop to market—complicated by the pandemic and drought. “One thing I am constantly stressing is productioncosts,”hesaid, citingsignificant increases inwater, labor, fertilizer, croppro- tectionand transportationcosts. “Wecan’t continuedoing this if there’snoprofitmar- gin, andultimately, consumerswill decide if increases are bearable in themarket.” An internal industry survey of California citrus growers conductedbyCitrusMutual in2021foundthat,onaverage, farmingcosts for the 2020-21 season increasedby nearly $1,000 per acre. This represents a 19% in- crease since the start of thepandemic. Amid historic drought conditions in 2021, Citrus Mutual reported, the spot market for surface water increased 400%—if supplies couldbe foundat all. In August, theStateWaterResourcesControl Board cut off water deliveries from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to thou- sands of Central Valley farmers. While the drought lingers, December’s rainy streak has raised spirits. The series of early-winter storms gaveKenWileman, generalmanager of PortervilleCitrus Inc., greater optimism for the season. “Dur ing that 10-day per iod ( in December), it forcedeveryone tocleanout their inventory,” he said. “Nobody could pick, andthat’s really important, because it putsa fresh, high-qualitypieceof fruitback on themarket onceyoucomebackonline. “Demand settled in right after the New Year, andthepricesaregoingup, especially onsmall fruit,”hecontinued. “You’remar- ryinggooddemandwithgoodquality, and that is a recipe for success. Rarely do fruit quality and demand go stride for stride.” Wileman saidhe anticipates the season will peak six weeks earlier than usual due to the smaller crop. “Eventhoughit’sa lightercrop,we’renot anyslower, ingeneral.Weare inagoodpo- sition, the best position we’ve been at in January in some time,” he said. Asharvest continues, shipperswill need to continue showing discipline to ensure that retailers do not run out of fruit. CitrusMutual’s Creamer estimates that the current navel cropwill go throughMay andmandarinsthroughJune,withconsum- ersbankingonsweet fruitdue tohighsugar content. “Consumerswill have a similar amount of fruit available to themthis yearwithout- standing eating quality, and that’s a good thing,” he said. “California oranges most likelywon’t be in thesupermarket as long.” ( L i s a Mc Ewe n i s a r e p o r t e r i n E x e t e r. Sh e may b e c on t a c t e d a t mcewenlisamarie@gmail.com.)
Report, 4% of last season’s crop was not picked or sold. Shippers extended themarket well into August in an effort to sell as much of the crop as possible. But whenever there is a heavier crop, Creamer said, it is naturally followed by a lighter crop. Sun Pacific navel and Cara Cara field manager Gus Carranza said, “We’re going to have the opposite of last year. It is defi- nitely a shorter crop this year, and what
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10 Ag Alert January 26, 2022
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