Favorable spring weather during California’s prune bloom period could bode well for the state’s crop. The California Prune Board is optimistic that the season will size up well for growers who are paid a premium on fruit size, and on tonnage. The industry expects 75,000 short tons of fruit to be harvested later this year.
Donn Zea, executive director of the California Prune Board: “We’ve built solid demand and California prune handlers maintain careful inventory management, putting our industry in a pretty steady position.”
It seems that the California prune industry is in a good state of balance between supply and demand right now with statewide production from about 40,000 acres. Twenty years ago, the industry had 80,000 acres of prunes planted, and that was too much.
Currently, the California industry, which accounts for 99% of the US supply, and 40% of the global supply, competes in a global marketplace where the supply/demand balance can be skewed quickly by production. Still, a key to delivering high-quality fruit this year will be managing the crop load. The crop thinning window is closing on growers as management changes will turn towards maintaining good irrigation and nutrient applications.
Source: farmprogress.com