Grower anticipates good quality fruit in a year of so-so yields
By CnAgri
Print
Trusted farming industry news for : commodity information, growing analysis, news, and grape production trends.
Markarian has enough surface and ground water to meet his crop needs this year. “As we’ve pumped more groundwater during the drought, everyone is concerned about higher salt levels in the soils. But I haven’t seen much, if any, impact on the grape vines. However, I’ve noticed a lot more salt stress in our almonds, which are more sensitive to it,” he says.
Markarian plans to begin laying his raisin grapes on drying trays in late August or early September. “The berries look a little small,” he says. “But if the sugar levels hold, and they have the meats, they should grade well on quality.”
However, he looks for prices of raisins to remain in a slump this year.
In response to weak markets for raisins, Markarian has reduced his raisin grape acreage by more than half over the last decade, replacing the vines with almond trees.
“I don’t know if raisins are on the way out for us or not,” he says. “We like to stay diversified. Common sense tells me that with as much as growers have cut production in recent years, raisin prices would be higher than they are. But, it doesn’t seem to matter how many vines we pull out. Prices have stayed depressed. I don’t understand it.”
