From the Fields - Joe Valente

By Joe Valente, San Joaquin County winegrape and almond grower

We grow winegrapes and almonds in San Joaquin County, Sacramento County and Calaveras County.

With the hot weather, we want to make sure everything gets irrigated to keep the vines and trees happy. It is hard to predict what outcome the hot weather will have on the crops. In almonds, we’re always concerned about how high temperatures may stress the trees. With vines, we tend to irrigate to prepare for the heat. Once it cools down, the vines want to grow, so the heat slows them down maybe a little bit as far as timing of harvest.

Last year, there was some heat damage because we had cool weather, and then it spiked to 105 degrees overnight. With the grapes last year, there was some pretty good burn, not only to the fruit but to the leaves. This year, we’ve already had some periods of warmer weather, so hopefully they’re tough enough to get through it. Sometimes, forecasters overpredict the high temperatures, but you’ve got to be prepared for it.

Typically, when you hit the high heat, there could be more of a chance for mites to populate. That’s one of the reasons why you want to have enough moisture in the ground to prevent that tree or vine from stressing and then creating mite problems. Like with everything, we have to watch costs. Prevention is a good tool, but if it’s an added cost and you may or may not need it, you have to weigh the benefits.

As for our employees, when the temperature reaches 95 degrees, we send people home.

For the market, there are a lot of unknowns. You’re not hearing a lot of movement about grapes that don’t have a contract or wineries purchasing them. Everything is really quiet, so if you have uncontracted fruit, it’s a waiting game to see if someone will come to the table to buy your product.