San Joaquin Valley citrus rebounds

Orange growers hope for a better year this season, and are off to a good start.

The harvest of navel oranges, a crop blasted by a devastating freeze earlier this year, has begun in the central San Joaquin Valley, and the fruit is already making its way onto supermarket shelves. Industry leaders say there is considerable demand, and they are hoping to recapture any retail shelf space that may have been lost to other fruit due to the freeze.

Cool nights this season have helped the fruit to color and add sweetness, growers say. "Cool is good for the crop. Freezing is bad for the crop" was the truism delivered by Claire Smith, director of corporate communications for Sunkist Grower Inc., based in Sherman Oaks. This year's freeze resulted in a loss of more than $750 million worth of California navel oranges. Additional losses hit other citrus varieties. Most were in the Valley.

Smith said retailers began asking about availability of the fruit well before the harvest began the week of Oct. 13. Smith said the fruit is tasty and is in "a good range ... peaking at the sizes the consumers like." The crop is estimated at 86 million cartons of 37.5 pounds each. The bulk of that -- 84 million -- will come out of the Valley.

Joel Nelsen, who heads California Citrus Mutual in Exeter, said the industry is monitoring the crop closely, guarding against unpalatable fruit reaching grocery shelves. After past freezes, he said, fruit had been less flavorful. Nelsen said the January freeze this year wiped out 30% of the year's navel orange crop.

"But as we started salvaging, we found there was a lot more out there [that survived the freeze] than we were led to believe," he said. Government estimates of the crop's size had underestimated it by 25% to 30%, he added.

Smith said the availability of fruit after the freeze meant the industry was able to retain much of its place in markets in the United States and abroad, something that was lost in past freezes such as in 1990 when everything was lost.

Industry leaders are pleased with an early start for the season because it will mean ample supplies in stores by Thanksgiving. In fact, Nelsen said, it's unusual to have supplies going to retailers by Halloween.

Jim Marderosian, president of Bee Sweet Citrus in Fowler, said he expects a decent season. "We're picking what the market will bear right now, holding back a bit, using some restraint," he said. He and Smith said they expect a lot of print advertisements will feature the fruit as Thanksgiving approaches.

Mark Freeman, a Fresno County farm adviser with the University of California, said it's anybody's guess whether another freeze could occur this winter. Freezes in recent years have been separated by several years, occurring in 1990, 1998 and 2007. "The law of averages seems to say, 'Leave us alone for a while,' " Freeman said.

Source: fresnobee.com

Publication date: 10/29/2007