Joe Valente San Joaquin County winegrape and tree-crop farmer
We’ve had two patches of frost—one in the first part of April that did some damage to the area on winegrapes, and then little frost came through (the week of May 9), and it was minimal damage. It seems like everything’s been weather-related this year. As far as the crop size and the winegrapes, that’s really up in the air this year. A lot of what people are looking at is compliance with (the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act), with the governor’s new executive order on drill- ing wells. The North San Joaquin Water Conservation District—which I’m a director of—we’re trying to work with San Joaquin County and come up with a solution for growers to be able to drill wells. Some of them already got stakes or trees and vines ordered and need to get a well in as soon as possible. So far, labor’s been OK. I think part of it’s contributed to not as much going on in the vineyards because of the frost damage. The other one is, the cherry crop seems to be down in size. Typically this time of year, everyone’s fighting for that la- bor. It’s been challenging for the growers but also challenging for the employees, because there’s not as much work available. With fertilizers, the cost is way up. It hasn’t been an issue getting the fertilizer; it’s just that when you get it and you look at the bill, it’s a shock. The pesticides, crop production products, the prices are high. It seems like the inventory’s start- ing to be a little bit more available, but again, the price of everything’s just ex- tremely expensive. Even tractor parts, there’s delays on it. Availability on any item that we’re dealing with in agriculture’s been a challenge.
Photo/Kevin Hecteman
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May 18, 2022 Ag Alert 5
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