After an inauspicious spring for agriculture that included a freak April freeze and damaging windstorms, harvests of the Sacramento Valley's most widely planted crops – almonds, walnuts, rice, processing tomatoes and wine grapes – are projected to be average or better.
Still, there are pockets of trouble among some smaller crops. Harvests of Yuba County peaches, Apple Hill apples and Corning olives, for instance, are all expected to be below average.
Despite the dry spring and a statewide drought declaration, Sacramento Valley farms, for the most part, haven't had to cut back on irrigation as have some in the San Joaquin Valley.
If anything, the lack of rain was a boon for some crops, said Dan Cummings, who farms several thousand acres of walnuts and almonds in the Chico area.
"It was probably the best almond bloom in the last 30 years," he said.
Statewide, the almond harvest is predicted to hit 1.5 billion pounds, up 8 percent from last year's record.
Cummings said about 10 percent of his walnut trees were damaged by the April freeze. But the ones that escaped harm are now especially heavy with nuts, he said. The walnut crop estimate will be released next month.
California's wine grape harvest is forecast to be 3.4 million tons, the second-largest ever. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's prediction, based on a survey of grape growers around the state, surprised many in the wine industry who were anticipating a significant drop because of freeze damage. Karen Ross, president of the California Association of Winegrape Growers, said ripening conditions this summer have been ideal in many parts of the state.
Rice fields in the Sacramento Valley would have benefited from a hotter summer, said Jim Morris, spokesman for the California Rice Commission. But the projected harvest of 4.1 billion pounds still is slightly above the 10-year average. The price farmers get for their rice has about doubled since last summer, more than compensating for rises in the price of diesel fuel and farm chemicals.
Official estimates of the processing tomato crop come out later this month. Some farms are already reporting yields 10 percent above average.
Now the bad news.
The Sacramento Valley's crop of canning peaches is down 20 percent to 30 percent, mainly due to freeze damage, according to Marysville farmer Sarb Johl, who chairs the California Cling Peach Board.
Ranchers struggling with parched pastures and high feed prices have been liquidating their herds. And the state's table-olive crop, hurt by the freeze and the spring's high winds, is expected to be about 40 percent below average.
In the Apple Hill area east of Placerville, Brad Visman, manager of Boa Vista Orchards, said several varieties of his apple trees will produce less fruit this year because of the freeze – though quality appears to be excellent. He plans a small price increase to compensate.
"Not every year is going to be a bumper crop," he said. That's the way farming is."
Call The Bee's Jim Downing, (916) 321-1065.
