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Albert Muñoz Temecula Area and Riverside County |
| The 2010 season is off to a slow start for most of the Southern region due to the lack of sizing. However, a steady harvest and supply will get us back on track and lead us into the warm and longer days of spring. The heavy promotions for Cinco de Mayo bring a large volume of harvest in the south and leads us into the heart of the season. The month of April will be a major driving force to a successful season. Quality fruit, diverse programs and strong promotions will keep the harvest on a fast track to keep up with potential record-breaking weeks of sales and shipments. Growers are attempting to size up the fruit as best as they can before they harvest. The winter and late spring rains have helped, but the elements from drought, heat stress and lack of leaching is making this season's fruit sizing a tough task. The weather will either be our friend or foe as we head into the summer. Heat or lack of heat will determine how long we can hold weak stems, mature fruit and stressed trees. On a year like this, the south will look to hold the crop until mid August, looking for better market conditions. With a major portion of the volume still ahead of us, this season faces many challenges. However, with strong retail advertising and on-going promotions of California avocados we can offset some of these challenges. We're moving fast on the Avocado Highway! |
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Scott Scarbrough San Diego County |
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Spring is in the air and the California harvest season is here. With a late
bloom last season that delayed sizing and the good rains of winter, we now
have a lot going on in the field. We are starting to see good sizing on
young, pruned and 2 year post-stumped trees. As for the mature trees,
sizing is still an issue and will be as we go through our bloom cycle. |
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Chris Dryden Ventura County |
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| After the first wet winter in many years, growers in all of the Ventura County regions put picking crews into trees in mid March. And to date it has not slowed down. Many growers will be receiving a check on fruit picked for the first time in 2 years. Yes, you read this right. In college my Ag. Econ. 101 professor Dr. Edgar Hyer constantly stated: The business of agriculture is a longtime commitment to pricing averages. Last year growers looked at the lowest supply of California avocados in history. The lack of supply during the key summer months allowed the market to return record breaking prices. But what a difference a year makes when you have perfect springtime weather during the most critical fruit setting period. The positive side of the equation is one of the best on the tree fruit sets ever. Unfortunately the negative is the lack of sizing. Unless you have trees less than 6 years old, most everyone is experiencing this once in a lifetime occurrence. Growers started to pick in the region with the traditional 8 ounces and larger vision. Within 30 days the larger-sized fruit was off of the trees and most everyone dropped their sizing curve down to 7.5 ounces. And to date the fruit picked and packed sizing curve is producing more 60's and smaller rather than 48's and larger. Thankfully, fruit quality is very good with little wind scarring and thrips damage. Please take note and pay extra attention to the increased volume in undersized fruit showing moderate to heavy sunburn damage surrounding the fruit stems. This heavily blemished product will not ripen correctly and will be culled out. By now growers throughout all of the avocado growing regions have realized with great disappointment the total lack of fruit size in and amongst their groves. The main question being asked is will it size up (to a 48) in time for Cinco de Mayo, 4th of July or as late as Labor Day? The month of April will bring some moisture along with a heavy bloom, tree defoliation and early stages of fruit set. The last thing the tree is going to produce is more fruit sizing. Many of the larger retailers that have been traditionally size 48 purchasers have made plans to move down to size 60 for the remainder of the season. |
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Gabe Filipe Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties |
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| The Northern avocado growing regions of California are still on track to produce record volumes. As we sit in April most groves have been able to dodge any significant frost damage from this past winter. A couple of heavy wind events helped to shake loose some fruit but in many cases the trees were still left with more numbers than they can handle. Sizing will be a challenge for most growers who have extremely high fruit counts per tree. The average fruit size in the Goleta thru San Luis Obispo County is currently peaking on size 70's and 60's.The strategy for many of the larger growers in the region is to pick their fruit when it reaches the 8oz. mark (size 48) regardless of price. The month of March was rather disappointing in regards to precipitation and it will be interesting to see if the late predicted El Nino rains of April and May will ever materialize. Water and fertilizer management throughout this season will be critical in order to give this year's crop of avocados every chance possible to reach the desired size 48 weight. More importantly, what you feed your trees this year will help contribute to your future crop volumes. The demand for large fruit should become very obvious as we head into the summer months and reflect in the premiums paid for those sizes. It is time to start thinking about harvest strategies and what is practical in different groves. In many manageable, heavy-set groves a select pick may be very well justified. If you need help in determining what type of harvest would be best for your particular situation then feel free to contact me. |
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Chris Mann Ventura County and Carpinteria |
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| It's only April and it seems like it's already been a long season. Mission has proved to be able to handle the heavy volume and handle it well with excellent grower returns. We are now well into our Spring and early Summer harvesting. Most growers have been through a round or two of size and or maintenance picks. Now the waiting game for the rest of the fruit to size up has started. Many growers are still going in and doing some light pruning which should help size up the rest of the fruit. The outlook on large fruit is very optimistic for the rest of the season. We are expecting to see a large volume of small fruit hit the market once groves go into strip mode. The small fruit is a result of water shortages and heavy crop sets. Again try to do as much as you can to get that extra bump in size for what's remaining on your trees. Remember to keep your eyes peeled for Thrips. It's that time of year again. Carpenteria fruit is still very small, which is usual for this time of year. The fruit up North may have a good opportunity in the late season. The California late season fruit will be of excellent quality and flavor and should hopefully bring a premium return. |
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