Paradise Crop Update December 2016

Paradise
The Sauce Source
Crop Update
December 2016

Click to forward this
newsletter to a friend

California Crop

The 2016 California processing tomato harvest came in at 12,646,979 tons. This is approximately 353,000 tons less than the anticipated crop for 2016 and 12% below 2015 yields of 14,361,188.

According to the USDA, drought conditions and hot weather led to an early start to the harvest season in mid-June in the southern growing areas. The harvest ran through late September. The 2016 crop experienced higher disease and pest pressures than last year. In addition, while the drought impact lessened for some growers, others had to deal with limited water supplies. Use of drip irrigation continues to help growers during the season.

2016 vs. Historical Tons Harvest

2016 Tomato Pack - Contracted Acres

Organic

Organic tomatoes in California hit a new record with over 736,000 acres of organic being harvested. This is a 57% increase over the 2015 pack year. However, the demand for organic continues to outpace the available supply.

Overall, 2016 organic tomatoes accounted for about 5.8% of the overall California tomato crop.

Field fact: It takes three years for fields to become certified organic.

International Crop

The World Processing Tomato Council released a final number of 38,047,000 total metric tons for the 2016 harvest. This is below the original estimate for 2016 and an 8% decrease versus 2015. Most countries reported that field yields were slightly lower than last year. Lower yields were due mostly to rainy periods during the start of the season.

2016 vs. Historical World Production in Metric Tons

The United States led production, followed by China and Italy.

World Production in Tons By Country