California specialty citrus in good supply

Citrus from California is in good supply, including specialty varieties. Pixie tangerine season from California’s Ojai Valley started at the end of February with good movement and good quality. Availability should last until it runs out in June. Pixies are exclusive to the Ojai Valley.

Some problems that had growers worried early in the season were successfully resolved: the Thomas Fire burnt trees and melted irrigation lines in some orchards, and the high winds that caused the Thomas Fire to be so destructive caused some wind-related branch scarring of the fruit. In addition, the exceptionally warm January threatened color break – citrus requires cold weather to turn from green to orange. "However, there was enough cold weather in February that the fruit colored up," Ojai Pixie grower Jim Churchill said, and the branch scarring has receded.

Ojai Pixies are grown by a consortium of 66 families in the Ojai Valley who banded together to grow and market the variety. Pixies grow well in Ojai because of its hot days and cool nights. The variety tends to be alternate bearing with this year being a light year; Churchill says the numbers are somewhere around 3 million pounds as opposed to five million last year. “We have a lot of the larger sizes which is just fine for most customers but not good for those that want small to medium.” Japanese customers prefer the smaller sizes because Churchill says they buy by the pound and sell by the piece. Schools also prefer smaller sizes because they correspond to the portion sizes of national school lunch requirements. “I don’t know if we’ll be able to service them or not, we’ll have to see.” Churchill says some Ojai Pixie growers market to Sunkist, which exports to Hong Kong.

Churchill says growers face three hazards currently including labor, a common concern across the board. “Policies with current administration are not helpful to us,” he says. The drought continues to affect growers. Although the area received a few inches of rain a few weeks ago the cutbacks made for water continue. “If there isn’t rain this year or next year people could go out of business. The water authorities are working on additional sources of water but the soonest something could come is 2020 or 2021. I’m not a large grower but I’ve turned off the water on one fifth of my tangerine trees.” Last, but not least, are concerns over HLB. “The disease hasn’t yet manifested in Ventura County although there are suspect trees in other parts of the county. There isn’t much we can do except pay our assessments (for research) and cross our fingers,” he says.

According to California Citrus Mutual as of March 22, more than 500 detections of HLB have occurred in the greater Los Angeles area and nearly 300 validations that originated in Orange County. Over 200 trees have been removed from LA and three trees confirmed with HLB were removed from the Riverside area. CCM and the Citrus Pest & Disease Prevention Program has begun offering complimentary training workshops to teach front line crew how to lessen the spread of Asian citrus psyllids in the field. CCM claims last year’s workshops were positive. The workshops are aimed at crew bosses, foremen, ranch managers and packinghouse representatives. 

Citrus from San Joaquin Valley (Madera to Bakersfield) is in good supply across the board and deliveries have been without issue. The San Joaquin Valley produces approximately 75 percent of California’s citrus. “Yields have been great this season,” says Jason Sadoian with Bee Sweet. He says Bee Sweet’s goal is to plant more oranges and mandarins. Demand has been steady all season, and has increased as the weather begins to warm up. Specialty varieties including Cara Cara Navels, Blood Oranges, Bee Meyer Lemons, Heirloom Navels, and Gold Nugget mandarins will be available as we head into spring.

For more information:

Matt Hernandez

Tel: (+1) 888-588-0141

Monique Bellevue

Tel: (+1) 559-834-5345