With long-time contracts disappearing, California apple growers fear they’re losing a piece of the state’s agricultural heritage and diversity.
Key Takeaways
- California apple growers face an uncertain future as processors leave, costs rise, and longtime contracts disappear.
- Watsonville farmers are replacing apple orchards with more profitable berry crops as production costs continue to climb.
- Growers warn that losing California orchards would also mean losing the state’s apple-growing heritage and diversity.
When Jake Mann’s great-great-grandfather planted his orchard in California’s Pajaro Valley, Prohibition was in full swing, women had only recently earned the right to vote, and fewer than 3.5 million people lived in the state.
In the 100-plus years since, California has become the largest agricultural producer in the country and boasts nearly 14,000 acres of apple farms that generate more than $105 million annually. It’s the fifth-largest apple producer in the U.S., behind Washington State, New York, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.
But over the past two decades, several major fruit companies, once the lifeblood of California’s agricultural industry, have either ceased operations in the state or moved to Washington.
In 2003, the J.M. Smucker Company, the largest producer of fruit jams and jellies in the U.S., closed its Watsonville plant, followed by its Salinas facility, and moved production to Ohio and Tennessee…