“We had a great winter and spring, with pretty moderate weather, both in the Coachella Valley and San Joaquin Valley, which allowed for really great growing environments for the fruit to mature,” LeMay said.
While the commission hasn’t released a formal estimate for this season’s harvest, LeMay said based on what commission officials have seen throughout the growing regions, there will be a heavier crop than last season’s 91.5 million 19-pound boxes.
“As we do every season, we’ve got to take it day by day and hope Mother Nature works with us and continues to provide the great weather in California that we’re seeing right now,” he said.
California’s table grape season started in mid-May in the Coachella Valley, and that area will be ending its season as the San Joaquin Valley production ramps up in mid-July. San Joaquin Valley harvest typically lasts until late November/early December, depending on weather.
“The anticipation is we’ll have a large crop this year,” LeMay said. “With California, not only do you get a high-quality grape, but you get a consistency in the product that we’re supplying. When California growers communicate to their retailer partners about what they have in the vineyards, they deliver on that.”
That has allowed California table grape growers to build long-term relationships with retailers in the states and abroad.
“We’ve fostered strong relationships with our retail partners, and we take the relationship very seriously,” LeMay said. “Our hope is when it makes sense for our retail partners that they’re stocking California grapes as early as they can, and that they’re staying with us as long as they can each season.”
The ability to find an adequate, reliable workforce is not a new concern to specialty crop growers, but this year has seen heightened anxiety throughout many agricultural operations that rely on migrant workers. As Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers step up arrests of undocumented workers, messages from President Donald Trump show a willingness to forego raids at farms and related facilities. Administration officials, however, have also said that no undocumented workers will receive exemptions from deportation policies.
The H-2A temporary visa program provides a legal workforce for growers, but ICE arrests throughout the country have swept up legal residents and others who have visas or Green Cards.
LeMay said as of late June, he hadn’t heard of a table grape operation being raided by ICE or other agency to arrest potentially undocumented workers this season.
“To this point, we are not aware of them focusing in on or taking any action on any California vineyards,” he said in late June. “We’re aware of some adjacent activity or their presence within certain growing regions, and as you can imagine, even though they’re not necessarily taking action at a farm, it definitely does create some concern and some nervousness in our employee community.”
There are several groups within the California ag industry that growers can connect to for guidance in relation to their rights and the rights of their employees.
“This is a reality that we’re going to have to address and deal with during the California season, and just take it one day at a time,” LeMay said.
