Harvest time held some anxious moments for California raisin growers this year, but they were rewarded with some of the best returns in recent years.
The previous two years saw strong raisin prices for growers, but 2011 is the best of the three as wineries competed for available grapes, boosting prices higher. They were at record levels last year, hitting the $1,500 per ton mark, but competition this year spurred prices to nearly $1,700 a ton for top-quality raisins.
Crop size was nearly the same as 2010, at 300,000 tons, said Steve Spate with the Raisin Bargaining Association. Raisin deliveries continued into December and it will be late January before the total tonnage is counted.
Delayed maturity, early October rain plus a labor shortage made for a stressful harvest this year, growers agreed. Raisins still in the fields when the rain hit had to be re-conditioned at a cost of 10 percent to 20 percent of their value. The process removes excess moisture and sand.
Longtime Fresno-area raisin grape grower Ray Jacobsen said this season was very similar to 2010 in that maturity was delayed by cool weather. His dried-on-the-vine raisin grapes had to be cut by Aug. 20, before they reached full sugar content.
"There was a quality loss due to lack of sugar," said Jacobsen.
This year was a "good, average crop," according to Jacobsen, who uses both hand labor and machines to harvest his fruit. His Selma Pete variety yielded well after previous years of low production. His Fiestas were better, at 4.5 to 5 tons per acre.
Even with labor worries and rain, Jacobsen characterized 2011 as an excellent year to be a raisin grower because of the prices received.
"Prices were excellent. Wineries were competing and that helped keep the price up," he said.
However, Caruthers-area raisin grower Monte Schutz said this was one of the most trying harvest seasons he had ever seen.
"Going in, we were behind in sugar and waited as long as possible to harvest, but we were going to run out of sunlight," said Schutz, who is also chairman of the Raisin Bargaining Association.
Prices were the bright spot in the season, as demand pushed prices higher than original contracts.
Cooler spring weather set the stage for powdery mildew problems in many vineyards. University of California viticulture specialist Matt Fidelibus said the long stretches of cool, wet weather were optimal for powdery mildew.
"Growers really had to be on top of their fungicide program and be attentive to their spray intervals; otherwise, it impacted their yield and quality," said Fidelibus.
Sun-Maid Growers board chairman Jon Marthedal had encouraging words for growers at the cooperative’s 99th annual meeting in Fresno in early December.
The Raisin Advisory Committee met in August and recognized a trade demand of 268,496 tons for seedless raisins, he said, and declared the crop 100 percent free for the 2011 crop year. With no volume regulation, the grower earns 100 percent of the price paid and does not give up a percentage to a reserve pool, which had been used for funding an export program.
This is the second consecutive year of a 100 percent free crop.
Marthedal added that the industry continues to be in good balance, considering a five-year average delivery of 325,993 tons and average shipments of 335,230 tons.
"We believe the 2012 crops should be 100 percent free as well," Marthedal told Sun-Maid growers. The cooperative represents just under a third of the state’s raisin growers.
Labor will continue to be a concern for raisin growers, he said.
Waiting for maturity, growers had a much smaller harvest window and found they could not secure enough labor in such a short period of time. With fewer workers came a hike in harvest costs. Some growers paid five to seven cents more per tray this year, Spate said.
"With 1,000 trays per acre, the cost adds up," he added.
Raisin production has historically been a labor-intensive crop: hand-harvesting grape bunches, laying them on paper trays, then rolling the trays after drying.
Fidelibus said more growers are becoming convinced that mechanical harvest will work for them.
"That can be a challenge with older vineyards that were never meant to be mechanically harvested," said Fidelibus. "The vines and the trellises aren’t in proper shape for it."
Growers can retrofit, pruning vines for the proper spacing and replacing wood trellises with steel. It would be a lot of trouble at first, he said, but it would become easier over time.
Marthedal said that since mechanization of harvest began about 10 years ago, close to 45 percent of California raisins are now mechanically harvested or dried on the vine.
More growers are choosing mechanical harvest methods, but they have to plan ahead; they cannot just call in machines. Canes must be cut prior to harvest for continuous-tray harvesting.
Schutz, who operates a continuous-tray harvesting machine, said as growers see an economic advantage to mechanized harvest, they will make the changes necessary. But, the machines won’t eliminate all need for hand labor. Canes have to be cut by hand and it takes a day for 15 workers to cover 20 acres. The machine is run by four workers, replacing a 40-person hand crew.
Marthedal said raisin acreage did decline in the past year, but some new raisin grapevines were planted—mostly replacing pullouts. He said that he did not think raisin acreage would increase significantly because of better prices for growers.
"It’s expensive to put in a new vineyard and prices are cyclical," he said, adding that growers have crop options that may not have as much risk or labor needs as raisins.
(Cecilia Parsons is a reporter in Ducor. She may be contacted at ceciliaparsons8@gmail.com.)