A cold spring and cool summer have delayed the harvest of the
local apple crop, but a San Juan Valley orchardist said the yield
is 25 percent better than last year.
A cold spring and cool summer have delayed the harvest of the local apple crop, but a San Juan Valley orchardist said the yield is 25 percent better than last year.
Anthony Botelho, who, along with Ken Perry, operates B&P Fruit Co., is in the midst of the apple harvest on 150 acres between the San Juan Valley and Gilroy.
“We just got done harvesting the red delicious and the crop is very good but late – it’s the latest harvest year we’ve had since I’ve been farming,” he said. “We’re harvesting now and the crop is good and the quality is good.”
Noting that apples “are very forgiving” with cold weather, Botelho said that his only concerns about this year’s crop is being able to harvest the remaining three varieties he grows before the rainy season arrives.
“We hope the rains hold off until November,” he said, pointing out that October rain last year cut into his yield.
B&P still has to harvest the Granny Smith, Fuji and Newtown pippin varieties, which are then sold to S. Martinelli & Co. in Watsonville, where the fruit is used for apple juice.
Approximately 70 workers pick apples by hand, place them in bags and transfer them to bins for shipping during the harvest season, which traditionally runs from early September to the end of October.
While the market for apples is “impacted a little bit” by imports and production elsewhere, Botelho said Martinelli has told growers that they are still experiencing good demand for their product.
“Theirs is a good product that is not duplicated anywhere else,” Botelho said.
The production of fruit and nut crops was valued at $37 million in 2009, a $7 million increase from 2008, according to the San Benito County Crop Report. Last year, 4,650 tons of apples worth $1.2 million were grown on 335 acres locally, down from 354 acres the year before.
