Hollister
– Uprooted apple trees sit in piles on what was once a 16-acre
orchard on the Yamaoka Bros. farm along Highway 156.
Hollister – Uprooted apple trees sit in piles on what was once a 16-acre orchard on the Yamaoka Bros. farm along Highway 156.
Owner Craig Yamaoka removed the last trees about a month ago, he said, and now plans to plant row crops in their place.
Like Yamaoka, many of San Benito County’s farmers are giving up on fruit and nut trees and switching to other crops.
“Our orchards are slowly disappearing,” said San Benito County agriculture commissioner Paul Matulich.
Yamaoka said he was forced to make the change by rising groundwater levels along the Highway 156 corridor. The higher groundwater, he said, literally drowned his trees.
“It’s been a slow process,” Yamaoka said. “It’s been about the last four years.”
Orchardists were also hit this year by unusual weather that affected the trees during their dormant, bloom and harvest periods.
The number of acres devoted to growing apples in San Benito County decreased from 490 acres in 2004 to 475 acres in 2005, Matulich said. Apricots continued their decline, dropping from 1,222 acres in 2004 to 1,137 acres in 2005, he said. Apricot acreage has dropped every year since 2001, when there were 1,439 acres, Matulich said.
The change is cause for concern, said county Supervisor Anthony Botelho, an orchard owner.
“We have too much water,” Botelho said. “The basin is full and the groundwater is approaching the surface.”
Botelho said he may be faced with a situation similar to Yamaoka’s if the conditions do not improve.
“It’s definitely going to be a problem,” Botelho said. “I’m not sure what I’ll do at that point, but I’ll probably do what everybody else does.”
And that could mean shifting to row crops, such as lettuce, spinach and peppers, a change that might not hurt orchard growers in the long run.
“These crops are very high-value crops and we have the packing facilities to accommodate marketing these products all over the world,” Botelho said.
The increasing dependence of San Benito’s agriculture on row and vegetable crops is reflected in its share of the total crop value.
In 2001, vegetable and row crops accounted for 54 percent of San Benito’s total crop value, according to the San Benito Agriculture Commission. in 2005, vegetable and row crops accounted for 64 percent of the county’s total crop value, according to the commission.
Although orchardist Paul Hain has no plans to switch to row crops, he and his fellow walnut growers experienced challenges with this year’s weather. Hain, former San Benito County Farm Bureau president and an organic walnut grower, said walnut growers lost 50 to 70 percent of their crop due to a record heat wave in July.
“The heat wave in July was a major downfall for walnut growers this year,” Hain said. “I’d never seen anything like it.”
Orchards with soil high in sand or gravel content were especially susceptible due to heat reflection, Hain said. A mild winter did not allow enough chill time for the walnut trees, and a wet spring hurt the trees’ blooms, he said.
Hain, who also raises organic poultry, said diversification is the key to survival in agriculture. Those who rely solely on orchard crops, which cannot be rotated, are hit hardest when the weather turns ugly.
But one fruit has re-emerged in San Benito County. Spanish missionaries introduced wine grapes to San Benito County in the 19th century. The grape crop in 2005 was one of the largest in memory, yielding 16,818 tons and bringing in $19 million compared to 12,072 tons in 2004 that brought in $18.9 million.
Growers were enthusiastic about this year’s grape crop. “Several of them told me that they have really good quality and fairly good tonnage,” Matulich said.
Josh Jensen, head wine maker at Calera Winery, said his grapes were well balanced and should produce some of his best wines.
The San Benito County Wine Growers Association has created a “wine trail” to increase tourism to county wineries off of Cienega Road. Hain believes the creation was an initial step that could help the economy of the entire county.
The diversity of San Benito’s agriculture is its strong point, Hain said.
“The challenges keep coming and I think our agricultural economy is very resilient,” Hain said.
Michael Van Cassell covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or [email protected].
