Avocado Growers Fear Frost as Harvest Begins

As California’s nearly 6,000 avocado growers marked the beginning of the harvest season with a ceremonial first pick late last month, Ventura County’s contingent held its collective breath, hoping Mother Nature would cooperate.

Though they anticipate a moderate to good 1995-96 harvest season, local growers said that the most critical time is between late December and late January, when a potentially devastating frost is most likely to occur.

“The first thing on the minds of growers right now is the possibility of a freeze, because that would limit the amount of our crop,” said Tom Pecht, owner of Pecht Ranch between Oxnard and Camarillo. “When we have a freeze, avocados are hit hardest because they are so sensitive.”

Pecht grows 30 acres of avocados, a fraction of the approximately 15,000 acres produced throughout Ventura County.

Local growers accounted for a quarter of the 60,000 acres of avocados produced in California during the 1994-95 harvest season. Ventura County ranked second in the state behind San Diego County, which produced 25,000 acres, according to the Santa Ana-based California Avocado Commission.

For the 1995-96 season, the commission said it expects California to produce about 320 million pounds of avocados--about 95% of the nation’s total output--with an estimated crop value of $220 million. During the 1994-95 harvest, California produced 305 million pounds of avocados, valued at $225 million.

Alva Snider, chairman of the commission’s board of directors, said that this season’s estimates are on the conservative side and that he didn’t anticipate much change from the previous season.

Though the first pick was in December, the last pick for Ventura County growers could be as much as 10 to 12 months away.

Generally, when an avocado reaches a certain size--about eight ounces--it is ready for market. In warmer areas, such as San Diego, the fruit ripens more quickly and is thus ready for market earlier in the year--during the summer months--compared with cooler areas such as Ventura County.

Local growers said they try to take advantage of their extended season.

“There have been years when one week in December we’ve picked the old crop and the next week we’ve picked the new crop,” Pecht said. “We’ll try to hold much of our fruit until the fall.”

By doing so, said Pecht, he will send his produce to supermarkets when the supply is thinner than during the summer.

“Southern growers, like those in San Diego, are at a little disadvantage because they can’t hold on to the fruit very late into the year,” said Bob Tobias, operations manager at Mission Produce of Oxnard. “Ventura County growers are able to take advantage of the market later, when there is less fruit and the prices are stronger.”

Those growers located farther north can take even better advantage of the fall and early winter markets, he said.

“Like with any supply-and-demand commodity, it’s beneficial for avocado growers to spread the crop out over the whole season, so they don’t overwhelm the market,” said Tobias, whose company packs and sells avocados for about 1,000 growers from San Diego to Cambria. He said he expects Mission Produce to move about 40 million pounds of the fruit this season. “If we control ourselves, we will get more for the avocados.”

Avocado prices fluctuated at the supermarket last season, but the fruits generally sold for more than $1 each. Tobias expects prices to be slightly lower this year.

Paul Leavens, part owner of the family-run Leavens Ranches, with operations in Ventura, Santa Paula and Moorpark, said he’s optimistic about the new season.

“I think it’s going to be a good year because the available supply of avocados, about 300 million pounds, balances out with the market” for the fruit, said Leavens, who is growing about 250 acres of avocados.

“If the supply got much lower, there wouldn’t be enough to supply the market and prices would go too high,” he said. “If the supply was too much higher, prices would go too low, and farmers wouldn’t make any money.”