Though California is suffering through one of its worst droughts in history, the California mature green tomato deal appears to be fairly normal this year, according to longtime participant and observer Joe Bernardi, president of Bernardi & Associates, with headquarters in Nogales, AZ.

On this late May day, Bernardi was driving through the San Joaquin Valley in California, which is the backdrop for his summer office in Turlock. “The deal should start around June 1 and last until mid-November,” he said. “Right now it looks fairly normal” in terms of volume.

But that does not mean issues concerning the drought are in the rear-view mirror. “Water is the big issue. It’s hard to know exactly, but acreage might be down 10 percent and it could be more depending on what happens this summer.”

Joe BernardiBernardi explained that for the mature green deal planting starts in early spring and continues through July. While the acreage currently in the ground that will soon be harvested is fairly normal, he said there well could be reductions as the season wears on. Tomato growers have become very diversified, he said, with most having several different crops on their land, including permanent tree crops. If the summer is hot and water is running low, some may fallow their acreage destined for the mature green tomato while they continue irrigating their permanent crops. “We could very well see less acreage on the back end of the deal which would [affect] supplies in October and November. An extended heat spell [this summer] is our enemy.”

As Bernardi spoke, the weather in California was very mild. In fact, in many of the coastal towns the entire month of May sported temperatures 10 degrees below normal. The San Joaquin Valley had warmer days, which is always the case, but 100-degree days have been few and far between during the late spring period. He said the timing was on par, maybe a few days early. In fact, he said the weather was helping the crop as it was very warm during the bloom cycle and as the tomatoes were maturing in May, the cooler temperatures have helped produce a very high-quality crop.

Baja California is still the main point of origin for vine-ripes, Romas and grape tomatoes, which Bernardi also sources. “Right now we are loading in five different areas. Everything looks good and we can fill the orders of any customer. We add value by sourcing from many different districts,” he said.

Looking forward, he suggested that the heavy rains from Kansas to Texas will certainly have an impact on some of the local, homegrown deals, which could strengthen the demand for West Coast tomatoes. He noted that growers could use a better market, as it has been fairly low for several months now. “Since December it has been a depressed tomato market. I don’t want to see it get crazy high, but a better market would help. Right now we have great quality at a low price from several different districts.”