Apricots doing well despite California drought
“Our tonnage is reduced to the point where we have more demand than we have supply,” he said.
The industry has shrunk from its heyday in the mid-20th century for several reasons: The fruit still is picked by hand, a cost not faced by growers of almonds, walnuts and wine grapes, which are all booming. Cheap imports cut into the dried apricot market. Canned apricots, mainly from the Del Monte and Seneca plants in Modesto, lost favour among consumers.
Apricots grew on just 10,800 acres in California in 2012, compared with 16,900 in 1990 and 32,600 in 1970, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But the reduced supply boosted prices for the farmers who remained – an average of $600 per ton in 2012, nearly doubled from a decade earlier.
Ferreira said growers are benefiting this year from a reduced supply of dried apricots from Turkey, a major producer. Over the longer term, they hope to boost the canned market by pointing out that the process seals in most of the nutrients, a claim backed up by several studies.
Growers this spring have not faced the harvest labour shortage of recent years, Ferreira said. He also said the crop is getting through despite the drought, as growers tap groundwater or try to buy surface water from others. He did note a concern about water in August, when the trees will need to start developing the 2015 crop.
Apricot demand is up in the fresh, canned, dried and frozen markets, Ferreira said, and the fruit has growing uses in yoghurt and USDA-approved school meals.
The Patterson apricot variety remains a top seller. The DePalma Farms stand at the farmers market has a larger type called Poppy, employee Leticia Ruiz said.
“We were expecting a little less this year – quantity, flavour and sugar-wise – but they are doing very well,” she said.
Source: modbee.com