California lemon growers and shippers are welcoming better harvesting conditions. "We now have less fog and clear skies and more opportunities to harvest. The hope is that all the remaining fruit on the trees will be able to get through the system and into market," says C.J. Buxman of Sunny Cal Farms. "We have full-colored fruit at the moment and good harvest windows–the weather is cooperating more."
This follows some challenging weather conditions since December. California began seeing a tremendous amount of fog starting in late November and that fog lasted all the way into January, which made harvesting difficult. With the fog, the moisture in the air prevents the fruit from drying out, which prevents harvesting and increases risk of potential quality issues.
© Sunny Cal FarmsOverall, the supply of lemons is better this year in California, where harvesting is taking place in Districts 1, 2 and 3.
Lack of chillier weather
On top of that, colder weather temperatures didn't set in until the beginning of January–temperatures that were needed to color the fruit and strengthen it. "So the quality overall has not been as strong through December, plus we've had green fruit to deal with longer than usual," says Buxman. "We also saw some issues with spotting in December. Spotting happens between harvest and degreening. Because we didn't accumulate the chill hours early in the season, the rinds didn't properly harden and firm. Then you end up with fruit that's spotted which ultimately leads to lower utilization."
Sizing has also been an issue. Lemons often size up one size about every three weeks on the trees. "So what would have been the perfect size in late December, which we couldn't get in to harvest, sized up by the middle of January and then sized up again by the beginning of February," says Buxman, adding that while many shippers would have loved to have smaller sized lemons, they couldn't get in to pick them, the fruit was too green or there were challenges gassing the fruit.
Overall, while the supply of lemons is better this year in California, where harvesting is taking place in Districts 1, 2 and 3, what's challenging is also the continued acreage additions on lemons that the state has seen over the past decade. On top of that, imports continue to arrive from both Mexico and Argentina which means overall lemon availability remains strong, which continues to create a competitive supply environment.
© Sunny Cal FarmsLemons often size up one size about every three weeks on the trees.
The state of lemon demand
Meanwhile, the demand for lemons is steady right now due to consistent retail movement and food service business. "Starting from the beginning of January, we keep a close eye on the size coming from D1. We're starting to see higher percentages of 95s and 75s, and fewer 140s and smaller," says Buxman. "Typically for bag programs and export customers, 140s, 165s are what customers prefer. So there is a higher demand on fruit that's still on the tree and smaller in size."
That's making demand stronger on smaller fruit and average on remaining sizes–a challenge given growers in the state continue to see escalating growing costs and pricing that's not rising accordingly.
For more information:
CJ Buxman
Sunny Cal Farms
Tel: +1 (559) 270-2287
[email protected]
https://www.sunnycalfarms.com/
