California grape production continues to set the bar high

Fresh grape production in California continues to supply global consumers with a premium standard that has set the bar high.

Looking at production during 2015, Barry Bedwell, president of the California Fresh Fruit Association told The Produce News, “We had 110.5 million boxes of grapes.” This bodes well for an industry, which set a record for 2014 value of production of $1.83 billion.

For 2016, Bedwell said estimates are that 117 million boxes of grapes will be produced.

According to Bedwell, the number of grape growers in California tends to remain fairly stable. During 2016, it is estimated that the Golden State has 454 growers. In 2015, grapes grown for all purposes were planted to approximately 756,000 acres. Bedwell said table grapes accounted for 103,000 acres. Raisin production accounted for 160,000 acres, with the cross-purposed Thompson Seedless being cultivated on another 170,00 acres. Grapes grown for wine production filled in the picture at 495,000 acres.

“The California table grape acreage is increasing at a modest rate,” Bedwell noted.

A breakdown by variety of table grape reveals the following in terms of volume production in California and the variety’s ranking among the top ten: Scarlet Royal/1; Autumn King/2; Flames/3; Crimson Seedless/4; Red Globe/5; Sugarone/6; Autumn Royal/7; Princess/8; Blanc Seedless/9; and Thompson Seedless/10.

Bedwell said he expects the popularity of the Thompson Seedless will continue its downward trend in the future as other new varieties come onto the scene.

Last year, California entered the fourth year of its ongoing drought with little or no allocation of surface water available to growers from reservoirs. “Because there were no allocations, growers had to rely on groundwater pumping,” Bedwell stated. “They relied on that a lot. We know that’s not sustainable.”

There was much discussion about the potential impact of an El Niño weather cycle in California, but Bedwell said the results were a mixed bag. “Northern California had above average rainfall,” he stated, adding that other areas of California were not so fortunate.

“In other parts of the state, we are in the fifth year of the drought,” he added.

Grape vines cannot be allowed to go fallow if they are to survive, and Bedwell said growers are in a position to make tough decisions as to which other crops they might let go fallow in favor of continuing cultivation of crops like table grapes.

“Some citrus in the foothills probably had to be pulled because there was no groundwater available,” he stated.

The impact of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which will be initially felt by 2017 and staring growers fully in the face by 2020, is serious.

“By 2017, all groundwater basins must have plans in place to keep water supplies sustainable,” Bedwell explained. By 2020, these plans will be traveling down the road to implementation. In addition to addressing issues of immediate sustainability, Bedwell said growers will also have to look at water recharge to get levels into the sustainability zone.

At the present time, California does not have a mandatory water metering system in place. But Bedwell said this will likely change in the near future.

He illustrated the complexity of the situation this way. “Shasta Dam is full,” he told The Produce News.

“But we won’t have the resources to capture and recharge the groundwater,” he added. “That is the big issue moving forward.”

With 11 million acres of irrigated farmland in the valley, Bedwell said up to 2 million of these acres could be lost to farming in the absence of a plan moving forward.

“The crops that will survive are the high-end crops,” he added. “The drought continues.”

He was asked if California has the physical resources to site new storages to deal with groundwater capture and retention.

Bedwell said consideration is being given to the potential siting of the Sites Dam in Colusa County and the Temperance Flat Reservoir on the San Joaquin River west of Auberry, CA.