14 CapitalPress.com
July 8, 2016
Reports show slight spud acreage reduction
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
BOISE — Recently pub-
lished 2016 fall planting re-
ports estimate potato acres
are down slightly nation-
wide, and Idaho’s acreage is
either lat or slightly reduced.
Prices of the 2015-2016
potato crop have remained
sluggish, though industry
sources say the recent esti-
mates offer welcome news in
a year when commodity pric-
es are down in general.
Nonetheless,
industry
oficials caution yields and
quality were both below av-
erage last season, and a nor-
mal crop this season would
still mean a greater supply of
marketable spuds.
USDA’s National Agri-
cultural Statistics Service
estimates Idaho’s fall crop is
unchanged at 325,000 acres.
Oregon’s crop is also un-
changed at 39,000 acres, and
Washington’s crop is down
3 percent, at 165,000 acres.
Calif.
forecasts
smaller
apple
crop
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
California will probably
produce fewer apples this
fall than forecast in the
first national estimate, but
its several-year-long de-
cline may have bottomed
out.
That’s what Alex Ott, ex-
ecutive director of the Cal-
ifornia Apple Commission
in Fresno, says in looking
at the June 28 forecast by
the Premier Apple Cooper-
ative in Syracuse, N.Y.
It pegs the Golden
State’s crop at 5 million,
42-pound boxes of fresh
and processing apples,
down 4.8 percent from
2015 and down 18 percent
from a five-year average of
6.4 million boxes.
“I think they are being
generous. I think it could
be lower,” Ott said.
It may be closer to 4.7
million with about 1.7
million of that being fresh
packed and the rest being
fresh roadside sales and
processing, he said.
In 1995, 10 million box-
es were packed fresh, but
drought, labor shortages,
more regulations, increased
costs and varieties grown
in wrong locales all con-
tributed to the decline, Ott
said.
Fuji was grown in plac-
es where fall nighttime
temperatures were not low
enough for it to develop red
color, he said.
The five-year phase-in
of a $15 minimum wage
starts in January, and until
greater mechanization is
available it will be difficult
for hand-labor fruit, berry
and produce crops in Cali-
fornia, he said.
The California apple
industry has been reduced
to innovative growers
committed to making it
so fresh-pack production
probably will stabilize at
about 1.8 million to 3 mil-
lion boxes, Ott said.
Growers are using new
technologies to reduce field
heat and increase color and
are producing high quality
apples, he said. Quality and
volume will hold unless
costs continue to out-pace
returns, he said.
Harvest will start with
Gala in the Cuyama region
of Kern County the week of
July 18 and spread to Kings
and San Joaquin counties,
Ott said. It will reach Sac-
ramento County and finish
there and near Watsonville.
“If all goes well, we will
get in and out of the mar-
ket before Washington,” he
said. “We pick, pack and
ship. We don’t store.”
John O’Connell/Capital Press
A ield of potatoes lowers July 5 in southeast Idaho near Pocatello.
A USDA report estimates the national fall potato acreage is down
slightly, and Idaho’s acres are lat, which could lead to increased
production if yields are up this season, after dropping last season.
Nationally, the potato crop is
estimated at 911,100 acres,
down 3 percent.
United Potato Growers
of America, which sends
workers to major potato pro-
duction areas annually for a
physical acreage count, es-
timates Idaho’s potato crop
is down slightly at 322,629
acres.
“I was a little surprised
there wasn’t an increase in
acres,” said University of
Idaho Extension economist
Ben Eborn. “What else are
you going to grow in a year
like this where you can’t
make any money?”
According to the NASS
report, Idaho growers have
stepped up their corn acre-
age, planting far more corn
than spuds to support a large
dairy industry. Idaho growers
planted 360,000 corn acres,
up 80,000 acres from 2015,
including 130,000 acres of
corn for grain, representing
an 86 percent increase in that
category. As a rule, Eborn ex-
plained, a 1 percent increase
in production causes a 2 per-
cent price decline. He said a
return to Idaho’s ive-year av-
erage yield — 412 hundred-
weight — would result in a 3
percent increase in production
over last year. A trend-line
yield increase, accounting for
the general tendency of farm-
ers to produce more each year,
would result in a 7 percent
larger crop.
Kevin Stanger, with Wada
Farms in Eastern Idaho, be-
lieves prices haven’t risen, as
hoped, this summer because
buyers have been holding out
for the promise of better qual-
ity with the next crop.
Aberdeen, Idaho, farmer
Ritchey Toevs said extreme
heat in May of 2015 caused
tubers to drop from plants at
a critical growth stage, lead-
ing to a smaller number of
larger and rougher spuds. This
year’s crop appears on pace to
be smoother and has emerged
from the critical growth stage
with a large tuber set, he ex-
plained.
Oakley, Idaho, grower
Randy Hardy, chairman of
Sun Valley Potatoes, Inc., said
potato plants “grew like cra-
zy” during a warm June, Har-
dy takes it as a good sign that
major processors have been
buying more fresh potatoes
lately on the open market.
Idaho Potato Commission
President and CEO Frank
Muir is also optimistic be-
cause of a slight increase in
processed acres, which are
raised under contract, and
a slight decrease in fresh
acres.
Walnut price slide prompts management changes
By TIM HEARDEN
Capital Press
RED BLUFF, Calif. — A
slide in walnut prices over the
past several years has prompt-
ed growers to begin mak-
ing changes in their orchard
management, university and
inancial experts say.
As the average price per
pound to the grower has
dropped from $2.05 in 2013
to about 85 cents, farms are
switching to varieties such as
Chandler, Howard and Tulare,
which will provide the best
yields and nut quality in light
crop years, said Rick Buchner,
a University of California Co-
operative Extension adviser
with a specialty in pomology.
“Handlers do not want
poor quality,” he said, adding
that orchards with margin-
al varieties that cost more to
maintain than they bring in
are being replaced.
Over time, softening prices
will likely cause a leveling off
of acreage, which has grown
considerably in recent years.
California’s 300,000 bearing
acres of walnuts during the
most recent harvest was up
from 290,000 acres in 2014
and 218,000 acres in 2008,
according to the National Ag-
ricultural Statistics Service.
“It’ll begin to stabilize,”
said Buchner, who is based
in Red Bluff. “The frenzy to
plant will be down.”
Tim Hearden/Capital Press
A former walnut orchard near Los Molinos, Calif., is deep-ripped
in preparation for a new planting. Falling walnut prices are already
having an impact on orchard management decisions.
The price slide has come
amid what a Rabobank report
calls a signiicant surge in
production over the last cou-
ple of years. California walnut
growers have harvested more
than 450,000 in-shell-equiv-
alent tons since the 2010-11
season and are expected to
harvest 620,000 in-shell tons
in 2016-17, according to Ra-
bobank, a provider of agricul-
tural inancing.
The production boom and
lower prices have heavily in-
luenced the export market for
walnuts, noted the report’s au-
thors, Rabobank fresh produce
analysts Vernon Crowder and
James Williamson. The lower
prices have encouraged more
shipments overseas, reducing
U.S. inventories.
“Orchards with lower
yields or other high costs will
ind it dificult to be compet-
itive in the medium term, as
production levels continue
to increase in the U.S. and
abroad,” the authors wrote.
“The industry is investing
more in marketing walnuts
domestically, but prices will
not be as high in the medium
term as they were in the last
10 years.”
When it comes to pric-
es, much will hinge on the
industry’s efforts to market
walnuts domestically, the ex-
perts say. Buchner notes that
walnuts don’t have as much
appeal among consumers as
almonds, which are more pop-
ular as snacks or atop favorite
foods such as ice cream.
“Almonds enjoy a lot of
places where they can be sold
in the marketplace, and wal-
nuts are more restricted,” he
said. “Almonds are just more
versatile.”
However, the California
Walnut Commission has in-
vested more than $17 mil-
lion in the last two market-
ing years to boost domestic
consumption, the Rabobank
report notes. While walnuts
are primarily used as an ingre-
dient, marketing efforts have
also touted them as a snack.
While most growers will
remain proitable even with
the lower prices, those who
invested in higher-priced land
and orchards and took on sig-
niicant debt may not be prof-
itable over the next decade,
Crowder and Williamson
wrote.
Rising blueberry demand to spur production boom, group predicts
By TIM HEARDEN
Capital Press
FOLSOM, Calif. —
Growing consumer demand
for blueberries could spur a
25 increase in production in
North America in the next
three years, an industry group
predicts.
The industry is projecting
production on the continent
to rise from 750.2 million
pounds last year to 940 mil-
lion pounds in 2019, accord-
ing to the U.S. Highbush
Blueberry Council.
Despite the drought, fresh
blueberry production in Cali-
fornia is set to jump 13 per-
cent this year alone, to about
70 million pounds from 62
million pounds in 2015, the
Folsom-based organization
reports.
What the blueberry coun-
cil describes as “soaring”
consumer demand has led to
new plantings in recent years,
which has made blueberries
more available on the market,
executive director Mark Villa-
ta said.
“We seem to be holding
our own,” said Villata, adding
that blueberries are less de-
pendent on water than some
other crops. “I guess the rains
we had this year were benei-
cial. We seem to be plugging
along even with drought con-
cerns.”
Washington is expected
to lead the nation in blue-
berries again this year with
118 million pounds, with
Oregon contributing 100 mil-
lion pounds, according to the
Michigan Frozen Fruit Pack-
ers Association’s 61st annual
Tim Hearden/Capital Press
Fresh organic blueberries from the Rainier Fruit Co. in Selah, Wash., are ready to be enjoyed.
Blueberry production across the country is expected to increase in the next few years, including in
California, where it could see a 13 percent jump this year from 2015 levels.
Fruit Crop Guesstimate.
About 60 percent of the
blueberry crop goes to the
fresh market and the other 40
percent goes to frozen or juice,
Villata said. Highbush blue-
berries are grown in about 38
U.S. states and largely feed
the fresh market, while low-
bush blueberries are grown
in Maine and Canada and are
primarily sold in frozen form,
he said.
North America’s produc-
tion makes up a little more
than half the global supply,
which is anticipated to surpass
1.4 billion pounds, according
to a highbush blueberry coun-
cil news release.
The council, which pro-
motes blueberries as healthy
lifestyle staples, has seen sev-
eral trends which have given
it a bullish outlook on the near
future.
North American per capita
blueberry consumption grew
nearly 50 percent between
2010 and 2015, according to
North American Blueberry
Council statistics.
Fresh blueberry sales at
U.S. retail outlets amounted to
$1.5 billion in 2015, up 7 per-
cent from the previous year,
helping the fruit rank second
in fresh berry dollar sales, in-
dustry market research found.
Frozen blueberries ranked
second last year in total frozen
fruit dollar sales at $189.6 mil-
lion, up 4 percent from 2014,
according to industry statistics.
American survey respon-
dents in 2013 were nearly
twice as likely as they were in
2004 to buy blueberries in the
coming year and 84 percent
cited awareness of blueberry
health beneits, up 115 percent
from 2004, the NABC report-
ed.
“The interest in blueberries
from the consumer side is con-
tinuing to grow,” Villata said,
noting an increased awareness
of blueberries as a source of
antioxidants.
To keep demand on the
upswing, the highbush coun-
cil will work to open markets
where U.S. fresh blueberries
aren’t currently available,
including Australia, Chile,
China, the Philippines, South
Africa, South Korea and Viet-
nam, according to the organi-
zation’s release.
Sean Ellis/Capital Press
A mint ield is pictured June
28 near Greenleaf, Idaho. A
softening mint oil market has
resulted in fewer spearmint
acres being planted in the Far
West this year.
Spearmint acres
down in West
as mint oil
market softens
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
GREENLEAF, Idaho —
The market for mint oil has
softened over the past six to
eight months and fewer acres of
spearmint will be grown in the
Far West this year as a result.
Spearmint producers in
Washington, Oregon and Idaho
and parts of Nevada and Utah
are under a federal marketing
order that regulates the produc-
tion of spearmint oil.
“Like it is with all commod-
ities, mint is down a little bit but
it’s still going to be a good crop
to grow this year,” said Shane
Johnson, who manages the Far
West spearmint oil federal mar-
keting order.
Ninety farmers produce
Native spearmint oil in the Far
West and 39 produce Scotch
spearmint oil.
Scotch acres in the Far West
are estimated at 8,941 in 2016,
down 9.3 percent from 2015.
Native acres are estimated at
10,162, a 2 percent decrease
compared with last year.
The amount of mint oil
spearmint growers will be al-
lowed to sell this year is also
down.
Each spearmint farmer
in the Far West has a base al-
lotment and an eight-person
committee made up of seven
growers and one member of the
public that oversees the feder-
al marketing order determines
what percentage of that allot-
ment each grower can sell in a
given year.
Due to the softening spear-
mint oil market, the salable per-
centage for Scotch farmers was
set at 45 percent this year, down
from 60 percent last year.
That means if a farmer’s
base allotment is 1,000 pounds,
they would be allowed to sell
450 pounds this year.
The salable percentage for
Native farmers was set at 50
percent this year, down from 56
percent in 2015.
Any excess oil produced
goes into a grower-owned re-
serve pool and if the market
recovers, the committee can
increase the salable percentage,
as it did in 2012-14.
The reduced acreages and
salable percentages are a “re-
action to where the market is at
right now,” Johnson said. “The
market is a little quiet right
now.”
End users who sell gum,
toothpaste and other oral care
products, have seen their
growth slow, he said.
“That has trickled down to
our growers here in the U.S.,”
Johnson said.
Del Christiansen, an Idaho
buyer for Labbeemint Inc.,
a Washington company that
purchases mint oil from Ida-
ho growers, said the market
has softened over the past 6-8
months.
Because it stores well on
the shelf and doesn’t shrink,
mint is a simple crop when it
comes to supply and demand
and an increase or decrease in
supply can affect prices quick-
ly, he said. “It doesn’t take
much to tip the scale one way
or the other.”
Despite the softening mar-
ket, growers and industry rep-
resentatives said spearmint
will still be a good crop to
grow this year when compared
with many other crops.
“It’s a little soft right now,”
Caldwell, Idaho, grower Tony
Weitz, chairman of the Idaho
Mint Commission, said about
the spearmint market. Still,
he said, “I would like to grow
more but I don’t have the base
to (do that).”