Fresno County asparagus harvest photo by Edward Smith

Spring rains and even summer rains have created cause for concern with local growers as harvest activity ramps up in the Central Valley

While some crops such as walnuts, tomatoes, and other fruits and vegetables have received strong forecasts, grapes are a concern in the wake of Tropical Storm Hilary on Aug. 20.

Grapes

Table grape harvest continued as growers assessed damage from the storm, but substantial losses were reported to mid-season grape varieties due to split and rot.

Approximately 30% of the grape crop was harvested when the storm hit, with a projected 35% of the crop, around 25 million boxes, lost.

“The revised estimate for the California crop is 71.9 million 19-pound boxes,” said Katheen Nave, president of the Fresno-based California Table Grape Commission in a press release. “The last time the crop was under 75 million boxes was 1994.”

Nave noted that typically California ships over 65% of its crop after Sept. 1, and based on the revised estimate, there are still over 45 million boxes of grapes the industry intends on shipping.

She said that retailers realize the damage caused by the storm and the ways this will increase labor costs. To keep grapes on the shelves throughout the fall season, growers will need to be paid enough to make a worthwhile harvest.

Nave said the industry will continue to assess the situation in the weeks ahead, providing updates, and that the commission will keep up its retail promotional activities and consumer advertising campaigns through the season.

Tomatoes

Processed tomatoes are expected to see an increase in production, according to the 2023 California Processing Tomato Report.

Contracted production of processing tomatoes — used for canned products and sauces — is forecast at 12.9 million tons. The contracted production of tomatoes in 2022 stood at 10.4 million tons.

The projected acreage of harvested tomatoes is 254,000 acres, up 13% from 2022’s 224,000 harvested figure.

Wet weather through the winter and spring delayed tomato planting for weeks, but with record high prices and ample water, contracted acreage increased sharply.

The Processing Tomato Advisory Board published shipments through Aug. 26showing a 16% decrease compared to the end of August 2022. But with the late crop, shipments are expected to catch up and exceed the past five years.

Nuts

Damage from Hilary to almond and pistachio crops has still not been fully evaluated.

According to the 2023 California Almond Objective Measurement Report, the state’s almond production is forecast at 2.6 billion meat pounds, up 4% from May’s subjective forecast and 1% higher than last year’s crop of 2.57 billion meat pounds.

Nonpareil variety almond production is forecast at 1.1 billion meat pounds, 10% above last year’s deliveries of 1 billion meat pounds.

Last year the state produced 1.1 million metric tons of almonds.

California walnut production this year is forecast at 790,000 tons, up 5% from 2022’s production of 752,000 tons. This forecast is based on 385,000 bearing acres, down 4% from 2022’s estimated bearing acreage of 400,000.

Cold winter temperatures ensured chill hours were sufficient for walnut trees, and the wet winter and spring helped to restore soil moisture in walnut orchards across the state.

Pistachios continued to mature after the storm.

According to a 2023 Pistachio Crop Estimate from The Ag Center, it is estimated that the bearing acreage in 2023 will reach 448,750 acres, a 5% increase compared to 2022.

The estimate takes into account the 2022 bearing acreage of 427,179 acres, and the additional 26,562 acres of non-bearing land that will yield its first crops this year.

It is estimated that the final production for pistachios in California will be just above 1.4 billion pounds.