It’s not easy being green. Especially if you’re a head of
lettuce in San Benito County during this year’s fickle-weathered
growing season.
San Juan Bautista – It’s not easy being green. Especially if you’re a head of lettuce in San Benito County during this year’s fickle-weathered growing season.
The area’s picturesque rows of leafy greens have been fending off disease, cold and rain to bring high-quality lettuce to supermarkets all over the country, and to keep the county’s number-one source of another kind of green, cash, flowing.
As the highest-grossing crop in local agriculture – the county’s biggest industry – San Benito County lettuce raked in over $70 million in sales in 2003 according to the county’s annual crop report. Some say last year’s haul was supplemented by fastfood restaurants’ interest in adding salads to their menus. This year, local growers say they’re expecting another successful year despite a few set backs along the way.
“We’re experiencing continued quality programs due to the weather,” said Todd Kodet, vice president of farming for San Juan’s Earthbound Farms. “The wet weather is creating an ideal environment for Downey mildew disease, and it’s affecting the quality and the yield.”
Still, Agriculture Commissioner Paul Matulich said this week, the forecast for this year is looking pretty good.
“My inspectors tell me it looks like we’re going to have about the same as we had last year,” said Matulich.
While the rain has had some effect on the county’s top cash crop as a whole, Matulich added, he hasn’t heard of anything too dramatic.
“The warmer it is, the better, though they (lettuce) don’t like real hot weather,” he said. “The rain maybe (held up) the tractor work or the weeding a little bit, though.”
Richard Silva of Top Flavor, which grows lettuce for Tanimura & Antle (T&A), said while his farm’s yield has seen a slight drop due to the wet weather, the quality is still high and the outlook for sales this season is good.
“We do select varieties that are tested and tried. These varieties are meant to be grown in cooler, wetter conditions,” Silva said. “Overall the estimates for lettuce production this year have been favorable, but it is a little lower due to rainfall. The quality looks good and demand seems to be high, but there might be a slight decrease in availability of product.”
This year’s harvest should start some time between April 18 and 25, Matulich said, and last through October, although Kodet said Earthbound has been harvesting in the area between San Juan Bautista and Gilroy since March 21.
“We’re having to harvest our fields earlier than normal to stay ahead of the development of the (Downey mildew) disease,” Kodet said.
While Kodet said quality is still the number-one priority for Earthbound, the availability of some products may see a decrease this year in order to keep it that way.
“Our specialty salads may have up to 12 or 13 components in them, and all of these are different varieties of lettuce that have a different susceptibility to the disease,” Kodet explained. “So there could be fewer bags available because it cuts into our overall volume. There would also be bags with a fewer number of components out there. I see the volumes being impacted at least through April here, although again it’s all a matter of when we return to a more normal weather pattern.”
But even though San Benito County and the other places all over the country where local growers ship the crop may experience supply shortages, local farmers have high hopes for their flagship crop.
“I just appreciate the fact that the American customer still believes in the American farmer and that he can put out the highest quality product on the market,” Silva said.
Jessica Quandt covers politics for the Free Lance. Reach her at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or at [email protected].
