Peach growers in Northern California have been forced to scale back production this year after Del Monte Foods announced it was closing its cannery down south in Modesto. With the looming closure of the plant on April 7, peach growers in the Yuba-Sutter area are taking down hundreds, possibly thousands of acres of peach trees across the region.
"Upset is an understatement. I mean, we just don't know what to do. We're sick to our stomachs," said Sarb Johl, a peach farmer in Marysville. Normally, there'd be more than a dozen people working to prune the peach trees on Johl's farm and make sure they're all ready to start bearing fruit. But instead, it's just one guy in a tractor taking them out.
Johl showed us his neighbor's orchard and what's to come for his own orchard next week.
Farmers contracted with Del Monte are ripping out peach trees to make room for a different crop they'll be able to sell.
"Instead of having additional revenue, you've got additional costs for removing an orchard. That's going to cost $2,000 to $3,000 an acre just to take the trees out and get the ground ready. Then you have to decide what alternative crop you're going to put in," Johl said.
But even then, alternative crops need to grow and can take up to six years before farmers see a return.
"We're farmers. All we want to do is grow a crop, something healthy for our consumers here in the U.S. market," Johl said.
Johl said it's a trickle-down effect that will impact farmers, consumers, truckers, fuel companies, and, most of all, the laborers.
"There are a lot of families. Their livelihood is working in the peach farms. They're not going to have it," Johl said. "I've had calls from some of my workers who say, 'God, what are we going to do this summer?' I'm sorry, we're just not going to need you this year."
Instead, a few laborers were hired to tear out the trees. The trees are ground up into small pieces and reworked into the ground to lay a fresh slate for something else.
"Now we're hoping the politicians will get their act together and get some money allocated so the growers get some relief because there's a huge investment in taking these trees out and restarting again," Johl said.
Johl said he's going to have to rip out some trees he planted only two years ago that he expected would produce for more than two decades.
A group of local lawmakers is calling on the U.S. Department of Agriculture for assistance for farmers. They're asking for $9 million to help farmers transition their crops.
Hence then, the article about northern california peach growers forced to rip out orchards after modesto cannery closure was published today ( ) and is available on CBS sacramento ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Northern California peach growers forced to rip out orchards after Modesto cannery closure )
Also on site :
- Ryan Gosling Says Harrison Ford’s “Not Like Us” After Seeing Him “House Half a Bottle of Advil as a Joke”
- 9 Tactics High-Level Gaslighters Use That Most People Miss
- What’s Inside This Year’s Oscar Goodie Bag?