Cool Spring Brings Late Harvest

Fruit lovers having trouble finding the usual supply of peaches, nectarines or plums in supermarkets shouldn’t panic.

The spring fruits are coming. They’re just a bit late this year.

Thanks to another round of unpredictable California weather, the tree fruit harvest in the heart of the Golden State has been stalled at least two to three weeks.

Last year’s El Nino rains caused unusual amounts of mold and fungus in the crop. This year, the unusually cold spring has delayed the ripening of the fruits.

The short supply affects fruit lovers across the United States because California is the leading producer of all three. More than 90% of the nation’s supply of nectarines and plums is grown in the Central Valley.

“What can you do?” asked farmer Sark Sarabian, shrugging his shoulders. “You can’t ship green fruit. We have our label . . . to protect.”

In a typical year, his packinghouse would be bustling with activity starting early in May, with as many as 35 workers grading, packaging and moving 3,000 25-pound boxes of peaches and nectarines and 28-pound boxes of plums a day.

Last week, Sarabian had less than a dozen workers picking through nectarines and boxing them at a much slower pace.

“I don’t remember us ever being this late,” said Sarabian, 65, a second-generation farmer. “Temperatures have been pretty warm during the day, but the fruit grows at night too, and the nights have been cold.”

At the end of May, California growers logged 875,000 boxes of peaches, 483,000 boxes of nectarines and 27,000 boxes of plums. Those numbers pale in comparison with much more normal 1997 figures: 3 million boxes of peaches, 2.5 million boxes of nectarines and 900,000 boxes of plums.

“We’ve gone from nearly 7 million boxes on a normal year, to a little over 1 million boxes,” said Marilyn Watkins, spokeswoman for the California Tree Fruit Agreement in Reedley, which represents about 2,000 California growers. “But it’s coming. It’s nice and hot now. The growers will be picking like crazy.”

However, one of the major downsides to the late harvest is missing Memorial Day weekend sales.

“By the end of May, we’re usually in peak season and supermarkets usually like to promote the fruit during the Memorial weekend,” Watkins said. “There isn’t another holiday right after, so that’s going to be hard.”

She said the Fruit Agreement plans to launch a marketing campaign for the Fourth of July weekend, which is usually the holiday set aside for watermelons and cherries.

But there is an upside to the late fruit.

“The taste and the appearance of the fruit this year is fantastic,” said John Tos, third-generation grower in Hanford. “We had a lot of cold hours this spring that really helped out on the quality. The taste will be as good or better than it has been in many years.”

While many growers are anticipating a long, fruitful harvest--expected to last through September--it’ll be difficult to rest easy until the season is over.

“With so much money invested, you’re always anxious until you have the last fruit packed and ready to go,” Sarabian said.

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Japan may open the door to imports of all types of fresh tomatoes from the United States, meaning shipments could more than double in value as early as this year.

Growers say the planned easing of trade barriers will be especially important to opening the way for sale of the Roma variety.

“Italian food is very popular in Japan,” said Beth Weibert, vice president for international marketing for the Fresno-based California Tomato Commission.

The total export value for U.S. tomatoes going to Japan in 1998 was $845,000. The Fresno-based California Tomato Commission said total exports for 1999 could reach $2 million.

The commission--working with the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture--has taken the lead in challenging barriers Japan had previously posed toward importing U.S. tomatoes.

Japan has permitted U.S. imports only for the last two years, but it has restricted the imports to those from a list of 25 varieties.

The first public notice that the varietal restrictions would be lifted came this month in a report in Nihon Keizei Shimbun, a business daily, Weibert said.

The report stated that Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry had given full approval to tomatoes from the United States and Canada.

Weibert pointed out that removal of import barriers is just one factor.

The number of food service chains using U.S. tomatoes has grown significantly.

Ministry officials have not yet set a date for the official opening, but public hearings are being planned.

“Usually, when there is an announcement like this in Japan, the action is taken 30 to 45 days later,” Weibert said.

Japan had been restricting imports of tomatoes because of concerns about tobacco blue mold infecting tomato seedlings.

The Fresno-based commission spent two years studying the disease and presented scientific findings that stated: “Tomatoes are not a host for tobacco blue mold.”

A report in the Japan Agricultural News carried this comment from Takeo Kocha, director of the plant protection division of the ministry: “The skin of North American tomatoes is thick and shelf life is long. However, it is sour.”

Weibert said the Japanese are especially fond of sweet-tasting tomatoes.

“The tomatoes they grow are sweet and soft,” Weibert said, adding that such tomatoes are not well-suited to slicing and have fewer solids for cooking.

Kocha said he did not expect the easing of restrictions would have “a big impact on domestic tomatoes.”