Milk Takes Kings County Crop Value Lower
The gross value of all agricultural crops and products produced during 2012 in Kings County was $2.21 billion – a slight decrease of $4.5 million from the 2011 record value.
Livestock and Poultry had the largest increase in value at $73.69 million (38.4%) due to more cattle and calves sold and at a higher price. Field Crops increased $21.99 million (3.6%) due primarily to increased cotton and wheat yields, as well as the wheat price. Vegetable Crops increased $7.16 million (4.0%) due mainly to an increase in processing tomato acreage. Fruit and Nut Crops increased $555,000 (0.1%) due in large part to increased nut prices. Apiary Products increased in value $316,000 (4.7%) attributed to increased pollination acres and price per colony.
Livestock and Poultry Products had the largest decrease in value at $106.65 million (13.1%) due to lower total milk production and prices. Seed Crops declined in value $1.62 million (21.7%) due to decrease
Dried plum forecast looks light
There will be fewer dried plums—also known as prunes—coming from California farms this year, according to a forecast from the U.S. Agriculture Department. Surveys sent to California farmers showed that growers anticipate a crop that is 24 percent smaller than last year. One reason is that some older prune trees were taken out after the 2012 harvest. For the orchards replanted in prunes, it will be five years before the trees return to peak production.
Walmart Demands Traceability
The Packer newspaper offers the following report on produce traceability.
“Fresh produce suppliers who ship to Wal-Mart distribution centers must use case labels that comply with the Produce Traceability Initiative by Jan. 1, or their products will be rejected.
The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer sent a letter to suppliers May 29 outlining the deadline schedule. The letter describes the PTI requirement as part of Wal-Mart’s heightened focus on the quality of its fresh produce, which also includes a new money-back guarantee for consumers.
“These efforts are designed to create a transparency in the supply chain so our customers can be confident in the freshness of the produce,” according to the letter.”
Kings Co Pistachio Production Hits Record
This weeks Kings County release of its 2012 crop report offers the following report on pistachio production.
The first large scale commercial pistachio crop in the U.S. was produced in 1976 with 1.5 million pounds produced on just a few thousand acres – small in comparison to today’s production. The 1979 Iran hostage crisis helped the domestic industry as Americans had begun developing a craving for the nuts and all imports from Iran were interrupted. By 1980, there were 25,773 bearing acres to meet demand, more than doubling to 53,700 ten years later. Today, there is an estimated 250,000 acres (bearing and non-bearing) planted in California alone, representing nearly 98 percent of the acreage in the U.S. Estimates on the 2012 production in California are 500 to 550 million pounds, which will set a new benchmark in production.
Kings County is one of the top five pistachio-producing counties in California. The first acre- age on record was reported in the county in 1972 with 1,729 acres listed as non-bearing. By 1980, the annual crop report listed 2,792 acres in production. By 1990, the county was at 5,218 acres, increasing to 6,916 acres ten years later. In 2012, the county has 16,159 acres in production with another 4,000 non-bearing acres. Improved rootstock and cultural practices developed over the last 30 years, as well as the increase in acreage, have lead to record production in Kings County as well.
The future of the pistachio nut appears to be very bright. Fueled by increasing demand both domestically and internationally, the nut has established itself as a healthy alternative in the diet of many American and International consumers.