Johnston Farms, headquartered in Edison, CA, is already moving quality citrus to its global customer base. “Our citrus season is generally the first of November through late April,” said Partner Dennis Johnston. “We ship mainly to wholesalers and into the export markets, primarily Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and some to Japan.” Canada is also a receiver of the company’s fruit.

While Johnston Farms also grows and moves potatoes, Johnston said acreage devoted to citrus production has been increased. “The reduction of potato acreage for us and the others here in the Kern County area is due to two reasons. First, the cost of freight into the eastern markets has become prohibitive for the buyers, and they will buy potatoes that are grown more locally just to save costs on freight. Second, our cost of production is probably the highest in all of the U.S., and that is squeezing us out of the market also. Our potato production has shifted more to the red, white and gold production that needs to be fresh and high quality as the storage states typically run out of quality of these types of potatoes during our May-July marketing window,” he told The Produce News. As a result, potato sales have focused on movement in the western United States with some volume moving into Canada.

Looking at citrus, Johnston Farms markets fruit under the “Bluejay” and “Victor” labels. “We [also] have ‘Top J’ and ‘Gold Mountain’ that we use primarily in the export markets,” Johnston went on to say. The Navel orange category has been a strong one for the company, with a mix that includes early, midseason and late varieties. Johnston said additional plantings for late varieties give the company the flexibility it needs to market Navels into April and May.

“We are introducing a new display bin for the first of the year for the Navel market,” Johnston added. 

The company has also seen good success in the area of specialty citrus with its mandarins. Varieties include Satsuma, Murcott, Tahoe Gold and Gold Nugget.