Arvin grape harvest to start earlier with good volume and quality
Arvin grape harvest to start earlier with good volume and quality
Following a light, late-starting grape season in 2006, California grape growers are anticipating a 2007 season that more nearly mirrors 2005 although not quite matching 2005's record volume.
California shipped around 96 million boxes of grapes in 2005. The California Table Grape Commission is estimating the total 2007 crop to be a little less than that, possibly somewhere in the low 90s.
While the crop will be larger than last year, "I haven't heard anybody say it is going to be massive," said Jim Howard, communications director for the commission.
John Pandol of Pandol Bros. in Delano, CA, said he expects that compared to 2005, the 2007 harvest will be a little lighter "in the back end." He expects early and mid-season varieties to have "fairly good yields" similar to two years ago.
One late-season variety in particular, the Autumn Royal, appears to be light for the second year in a row, he said.
The start of the grape harvest in Arvin, the southernmost district in California's San Joaquin Valley, is considerably earlier this year than a year ago, with most shippers expecting to start picking sometime between June 25 and July 2. Both the California desert grape deal out of the Coachella Valley and the Mexican grape deal out of the state of Sonora were in full swing in mid-June and expected to overlap with Arvin.
However, Mr. Pandol said June 13 that the local association of table grape growers in Hermosillo, Sonora (Asociacion Agricola Local de Productores Uva de Mesa, commonly known by its Spanish acronym, AALPUM) had just released a revised estimate of the Sonora crop, backing off on earlier estimates by about 10 percent, "most of that on the back end."
That lighter-than-expected finish to the Mexican deal should result in a more orderly transition into Arvin than many had feared, according to Mr. Pandol. From Arvin, he expects the progression from the start of the harvest from one district to the next up through the valley to be more spread out than it is in some years.
"I think it should be a nice smooth transition," John Harley of Anthony Vineyards in Bakersfield said June 8. "The only thing that may affect us is the fact that Mexico is later in their Sugraone harvest, which may overlap into July."
By contrast, "last year Mexico ... had a lot of problems from a production standpoint," whereas this year "it seems like they have a full crop." However, "I think it is going to be lighter than what they originally projected out of Mexico," he said.
Current market prices for Coachella grapes were definitely "softer" than at the same time a year ago," Mr. Harley said. "Last year we were in the $20s. This year probably mid- to low teens."
Chris Caratan of Columbine Vineyards in Delano, CA, expects "a very nice crop" for Arvin with superb quality and better yields than a year ago.
"We were disappointed to see the Mexican and Coachella deals start as late as they did," he said. "The demand was there in early May. There just weren't any supplies. Having said that, [Coachella and Mexico] have moved a lot of grapes over the last couple of weeks," he said June 11. While there will be some overlap with Arvin, particularly on green seedless varieties, "it is nothing that we haven't dealt with before."
Rick Paul of Sun World International said June 8 that the Coachella crop "is a bumper crop and [there] has been good ... eating quality especially," but it would be "a real challenge to move [the balance of the Coachella] crop in the time that we have left" before the harvest in Arvin starts. For Sun World, that start date will be around June 25-27, he said.
(For more on the Arvin grape deal, see the June 25 issue of The Produce News.)
California shipped around 96 million boxes of grapes in 2005. The California Table Grape Commission is estimating the total 2007 crop to be a little less than that, possibly somewhere in the low 90s.
While the crop will be larger than last year, "I haven't heard anybody say it is going to be massive," said Jim Howard, communications director for the commission.
John Pandol of Pandol Bros. in Delano, CA, said he expects that compared to 2005, the 2007 harvest will be a little lighter "in the back end." He expects early and mid-season varieties to have "fairly good yields" similar to two years ago.
One late-season variety in particular, the Autumn Royal, appears to be light for the second year in a row, he said.
The start of the grape harvest in Arvin, the southernmost district in California's San Joaquin Valley, is considerably earlier this year than a year ago, with most shippers expecting to start picking sometime between June 25 and July 2. Both the California desert grape deal out of the Coachella Valley and the Mexican grape deal out of the state of Sonora were in full swing in mid-June and expected to overlap with Arvin.
However, Mr. Pandol said June 13 that the local association of table grape growers in Hermosillo, Sonora (Asociacion Agricola Local de Productores Uva de Mesa, commonly known by its Spanish acronym, AALPUM) had just released a revised estimate of the Sonora crop, backing off on earlier estimates by about 10 percent, "most of that on the back end."
That lighter-than-expected finish to the Mexican deal should result in a more orderly transition into Arvin than many had feared, according to Mr. Pandol. From Arvin, he expects the progression from the start of the harvest from one district to the next up through the valley to be more spread out than it is in some years.
"I think it should be a nice smooth transition," John Harley of Anthony Vineyards in Bakersfield said June 8. "The only thing that may affect us is the fact that Mexico is later in their Sugraone harvest, which may overlap into July."
By contrast, "last year Mexico ... had a lot of problems from a production standpoint," whereas this year "it seems like they have a full crop." However, "I think it is going to be lighter than what they originally projected out of Mexico," he said.
Current market prices for Coachella grapes were definitely "softer" than at the same time a year ago," Mr. Harley said. "Last year we were in the $20s. This year probably mid- to low teens."
Chris Caratan of Columbine Vineyards in Delano, CA, expects "a very nice crop" for Arvin with superb quality and better yields than a year ago.
"We were disappointed to see the Mexican and Coachella deals start as late as they did," he said. "The demand was there in early May. There just weren't any supplies. Having said that, [Coachella and Mexico] have moved a lot of grapes over the last couple of weeks," he said June 11. While there will be some overlap with Arvin, particularly on green seedless varieties, "it is nothing that we haven't dealt with before."
Rick Paul of Sun World International said June 8 that the Coachella crop "is a bumper crop and [there] has been good ... eating quality especially," but it would be "a real challenge to move [the balance of the Coachella] crop in the time that we have left" before the harvest in Arvin starts. For Sun World, that start date will be around June 25-27, he said.
(For more on the Arvin grape deal, see the June 25 issue of The Produce News.)
