From the Fields - Jake Samuel

By Jake Samuel, San Joaquin County cherry and walnut farmer

We’re going to be busy in the cherries for the next 30 days. Some of the earlier districts are getting going. It is a slow start though, and a little later start than was anticipated. We’re picking a block that’s normally picked in middle to late May rather than early May.

The fruit looks good. Two weekends ago, we got a little more than an inch of rain. There’s going to be a small percentage of loss but nothing like we expected. The winds that followed helped to dry out the trees. Many did some applications before and after the rain to bolster the cell walls of the fruit. From what I’m hearing, there’s very minimal loss.

The market for fresh cherries is relatively stable. Some early varieties have been on the smaller side, but size should improve as we get into the mainstay varieties like Coral Champagne, Garnet and Brooks. For the Bings that come later in the year, it’s going to be a very large crop.

For our dried cherries, demand has been maintaining, and we’re exploring new markets. Our mainstays are wholesale ingredients, general confectionary, trail mixes and other ingredient mixes. We’re seeing the snacking area pick up a little bit. The no-added-sugar kick that we promote is a big driver. When the U.S. Department of Agriculture says we need to reduce school lunch program sugar intakes, that’s been a good driver for us as well.

On our walnuts, we’re in it for the long game, not the short game. We have the good Chandler variety, and we have good-producing orchards. We’ve been monitoring the budget. With the rain we’ve had, we had to apply a light spray to protect the crop so we have something to market and sell at the end of the year. Last year, it was a record-setting walnut crop. We’ve got to take a couple punches on the chin and roll with it.