-June 28,2023-
A number of Kings County’s top crops are under price and production pressure this summer. Familiar crops include cotton, processing tomatoes and numero uno – milk. The most important farm commodity here, milk- is a case in point with the price down over 38% in this past year – below $15 per cwt currently after dairymen enjoyed a price level of over $24 last summer. Trade group California Milk Producers advise that “ Dairy producers are bracing themselves for a very small May milk check.” An oversupply of products from cheese to powdered milk is the number one factor. Farmers are reducing the size of their herds in what will be a self correcting way to increase prices down the road.
Milk is not the only Kings County problem.
Almonds face a $2 billion decline in value, says a mid-May USDA report.
USDA released a forecast for 2023 California almond production reporting expected production at 2.50 billion pounds, 3% below last year’s final production of 2.57 billion pounds even though almond bearing acres stand at 1,380,000, 2% above the 2021 bearing acreage of 1,350,000.
The forecast notes that yield at 1,810 pounds per acre is down 90 pounds from last year, and the lowest since 2005.
USADA predicts the value of the almond crop- the state’s number three crop- will be just $3.5 billion – down from $5.3 billion the year before and over $6 billion in 2019.
USDA says the almond bloom began in the middle of February and peaked at the end of the month. Record level rainfall and unprecedented stormy conditions impacted pollination. Limited bee flight hours were reported in all growing regions. There were reports of downed trees due to high winds and oversaturated soil. Yields are expected to be the lowest in years, with variation observed across varieties and orchard locations.
Colder than normal temperatures continued through March and April, resulting in a delayed crop. Farmers are still evaluating their orchards for signs of disease and applying fertilizer and pest treatments as needed. Water availability is not a major concern this year.
Tomatoes getting squeezed
Then there is the situation with processing tomatoes this year. A May 30 USDA estimate says Kings County will have only 17,600 acres harvested this summer compared to 28,000 acres the year before as flooding will reduce the size of the local crop by almost a third.The state crop overall will not be impacted so much asrothe counties are picking up there slack with Fresno County’s production expected to jump from 50,000 acres in 2022 to 62,000 this year. But local growers have been hit hard.
Of course cotton growers are also being hit this year with the lakebed flooded. Exact numbers are not available but it is expected to be the smallest number of cotton acres in years. Tulare Lake is said to have peaked at 182 square miles – similar in size to Lake Tahoe.
Cotton growers nationwide have been whipsawed in the past year buoyed by expected high prices planting double what they ended up harvesting in 2022 after prices dropped by half.