Is the glass 70 percent empty or 30 percent full for California citrus industry?
Is the glass 70 percent empty or 30 percent full for California citrus industry?
One might say it all depends on how you look at it.
Any way you look at it, California's week-long deep freeze was costly to citrus growers and packers. It will mean missed sales opportunities for retailers. And it will be a hardship on thousands of workers on farms and in packinghouses who will be out of work or have their hours curtailed because of the short crop.
But as growers continue to assess the damage to their citrus groves in the wake of January's Arctic Express, some are expressing optimism that they may find a little more marketable fruit out there than they at first supposed. More important, the industry is emphasizing that growers and packers are taking great care to assure that what winds up on the retail shelves will be fruit that the consumers will enjoy.
"In terms of the fruit quality, I am concerned a little bit that there have been so many reports of the damage that the consumers have gotten the impression that there is no good fruit out there," said Bob Blakely, director of grower relations for California Citrus Mutual in Exeter, CA. Perhaps because of that, "we are seeing less movement through the grocery stores," he said. "Somehow we need to get the message out there that the fruit that is getting to retail is still good fruit and consumers should not be afraid to buy oranges in the grocery store."
Even though oranges are in short supply because of the freeze, demand seems to be less than expected, Mr. Blakely said. "Our sales desks are being told that the stuff is not moving and consumers are not buying it. I am sure it is a little bit exaggerated because [the buyers] are trying to beat the price down. But it is disturbing if consumers have got the perception that the oranges in the store are frozen, because they are not. The quality that is getting out there is good."
The industry is holding harvested fruit for five days after harvest before it is packed "so that it can be inspected to be sure that we are not shipping frost- damaged fruit," he said.
It would be "a shame not to be able to pack the good fruit we've got" because the buyers or the consumers "are afraid of it," he said.
There have been other misconceptions in some of the news reports concerning the freeze, Mr. Blakely said. Some news sources had reported that eight packinghouses in the Orange Cove area had closed. But that was "absolutely false," he said Jan. 30. With the possible exception of one packer that he had not talked to, "as of late last week, none of them had shut down. Some were going to flex schedules, not running as many hours," and they may not be running every day, but they "were definitely not shut down."
Some larger citrus-packing operations in the state that have more than one facility have been consolidating and centralizing their packing, he said. "But I haven't heard of any completely shutting down." However, he added that he "wouldn't be surprised if some of the smaller ones aren't getting close to that."
Some Navel growers, particularly those with late Navels, are "finding more good fruit than what they had anticipated," Mr. Blakely said." Some houses are telling me they may have fruit well into April and maybe into early May," although that will be "the exception rather than the rule," he said.
Particularly along a strip on the east side of the Central Valley from Porterville north, the "traditional citrus belt," he said, "we are finding good oranges. Many of those groves are at a little higher elevation, up against the foothills. They tend to get a little bit more air drainage, and those little subtle things make the difference."
There is some good news for the lemon industry, at least in the Ventura area, Mr. Blakely said. "The extent of the damage" in Ventura County, which has significant lemon production, "was less" than in other districts. "They might have had damage to only about 20 percent of their crop, so the lemon industry is going to be impacted to a lesser degree."
In fact, he said, "District 2 [mainly Ventura County] expects to have adequate supplies and be able to take care of the market from the time they would normally start about March ... through August and into September."
After that, there could be "a tightening" through the fall, because some of the lemon groves in District 3 (the desert) "had some young blooms on the trees" when the frost hit that would have set the fall crop. Lemons could be tight from then until District 1 (the Central Valley) starts again toward year's end, he said. "Up here, our [lemon] trees ... did not have any fruit bouts out yet," so he does not expect next season's lemon crop to have been hurt.
Similarly, although there was extensive loss to oranges in the Central Valley, little if any tree damage has been observed, so growers are hopeful that the effect will not carry over into next year.
It was too early to know what the effect of the freeze would be on Valencias, Mr. Blakely said. And with Mandarins, "that is a new industry that has not been through something like this before, so they are still learning." Most clementines in the Central Valley had already been harvested before the freeze. "Minneola growers and W. Murcott growers are the ones who still have fruit. I was talking to one grower yesterday who has Minneolas, and he said he was still finding quite a bit of good fruit."
SunWest Fruit Co. Inc. in Parlier, CA, continued packing fruit that was harvested prior to the freeze, according to Jesse Silva. As for the fruit still on the trees, "we are optimistic that ... we should be able to get maybe 20 percent of our remaining crop."
Mr. Silva said that SunWest is taking a different approach than some other packers. "We have actually made the decision not to harvest fruit until probably March" or possibly late February if the weather warms sufficiently. By waiting, the company hopes to have a better idea "of the extent of the damage," he said, "but we feel optimistic." The company has one 3,000-acre ranch "up towards the foothills" that seems not to have been hit as hard as most, he said.
To assure that only undamaged, high-quality fruit is shipped, SunWest has invested in "florescent technology to see what the damage is inside of the fruit." The company has also "invested heavily in a density-sorting program" built into the packingline. SunWest is heavy in the late Navel deal and normally continues packing into June or even July. This year, "we may be done in April," he said.
Dennis Plann, deputy county agricultural commissioner for Fresno County, told The Produce News that it would be another 30 days before "we will have a good handle on the Navels," and it will be late March "before we have a handle on how badly the Valencia crop has been affected."
Any way you look at it, California's week-long deep freeze was costly to citrus growers and packers. It will mean missed sales opportunities for retailers. And it will be a hardship on thousands of workers on farms and in packinghouses who will be out of work or have their hours curtailed because of the short crop.
But as growers continue to assess the damage to their citrus groves in the wake of January's Arctic Express, some are expressing optimism that they may find a little more marketable fruit out there than they at first supposed. More important, the industry is emphasizing that growers and packers are taking great care to assure that what winds up on the retail shelves will be fruit that the consumers will enjoy.
"In terms of the fruit quality, I am concerned a little bit that there have been so many reports of the damage that the consumers have gotten the impression that there is no good fruit out there," said Bob Blakely, director of grower relations for California Citrus Mutual in Exeter, CA. Perhaps because of that, "we are seeing less movement through the grocery stores," he said. "Somehow we need to get the message out there that the fruit that is getting to retail is still good fruit and consumers should not be afraid to buy oranges in the grocery store."
Even though oranges are in short supply because of the freeze, demand seems to be less than expected, Mr. Blakely said. "Our sales desks are being told that the stuff is not moving and consumers are not buying it. I am sure it is a little bit exaggerated because [the buyers] are trying to beat the price down. But it is disturbing if consumers have got the perception that the oranges in the store are frozen, because they are not. The quality that is getting out there is good."
The industry is holding harvested fruit for five days after harvest before it is packed "so that it can be inspected to be sure that we are not shipping frost- damaged fruit," he said.
It would be "a shame not to be able to pack the good fruit we've got" because the buyers or the consumers "are afraid of it," he said.
There have been other misconceptions in some of the news reports concerning the freeze, Mr. Blakely said. Some news sources had reported that eight packinghouses in the Orange Cove area had closed. But that was "absolutely false," he said Jan. 30. With the possible exception of one packer that he had not talked to, "as of late last week, none of them had shut down. Some were going to flex schedules, not running as many hours," and they may not be running every day, but they "were definitely not shut down."
Some larger citrus-packing operations in the state that have more than one facility have been consolidating and centralizing their packing, he said. "But I haven't heard of any completely shutting down." However, he added that he "wouldn't be surprised if some of the smaller ones aren't getting close to that."
Some Navel growers, particularly those with late Navels, are "finding more good fruit than what they had anticipated," Mr. Blakely said." Some houses are telling me they may have fruit well into April and maybe into early May," although that will be "the exception rather than the rule," he said.
Particularly along a strip on the east side of the Central Valley from Porterville north, the "traditional citrus belt," he said, "we are finding good oranges. Many of those groves are at a little higher elevation, up against the foothills. They tend to get a little bit more air drainage, and those little subtle things make the difference."
There is some good news for the lemon industry, at least in the Ventura area, Mr. Blakely said. "The extent of the damage" in Ventura County, which has significant lemon production, "was less" than in other districts. "They might have had damage to only about 20 percent of their crop, so the lemon industry is going to be impacted to a lesser degree."
In fact, he said, "District 2 [mainly Ventura County] expects to have adequate supplies and be able to take care of the market from the time they would normally start about March ... through August and into September."
After that, there could be "a tightening" through the fall, because some of the lemon groves in District 3 (the desert) "had some young blooms on the trees" when the frost hit that would have set the fall crop. Lemons could be tight from then until District 1 (the Central Valley) starts again toward year's end, he said. "Up here, our [lemon] trees ... did not have any fruit bouts out yet," so he does not expect next season's lemon crop to have been hurt.
Similarly, although there was extensive loss to oranges in the Central Valley, little if any tree damage has been observed, so growers are hopeful that the effect will not carry over into next year.
It was too early to know what the effect of the freeze would be on Valencias, Mr. Blakely said. And with Mandarins, "that is a new industry that has not been through something like this before, so they are still learning." Most clementines in the Central Valley had already been harvested before the freeze. "Minneola growers and W. Murcott growers are the ones who still have fruit. I was talking to one grower yesterday who has Minneolas, and he said he was still finding quite a bit of good fruit."
SunWest Fruit Co. Inc. in Parlier, CA, continued packing fruit that was harvested prior to the freeze, according to Jesse Silva. As for the fruit still on the trees, "we are optimistic that ... we should be able to get maybe 20 percent of our remaining crop."
Mr. Silva said that SunWest is taking a different approach than some other packers. "We have actually made the decision not to harvest fruit until probably March" or possibly late February if the weather warms sufficiently. By waiting, the company hopes to have a better idea "of the extent of the damage," he said, "but we feel optimistic." The company has one 3,000-acre ranch "up towards the foothills" that seems not to have been hit as hard as most, he said.
To assure that only undamaged, high-quality fruit is shipped, SunWest has invested in "florescent technology to see what the damage is inside of the fruit." The company has also "invested heavily in a density-sorting program" built into the packingline. SunWest is heavy in the late Navel deal and normally continues packing into June or even July. This year, "we may be done in April," he said.
Dennis Plann, deputy county agricultural commissioner for Fresno County, told The Produce News that it would be another 30 days before "we will have a good handle on the Navels," and it will be late March "before we have a handle on how badly the Valencia crop has been affected."
