California supplies the majority of the country’s lettuce and spinach. Fresh fruits, such as grapes, peaches, plums and nectarines, are also three weeks behind schedule, Jacobsen said, but shortages are not expected for them.
Coming into the tomato-planting season, inventory across the country was already in short supply because of years of drought, substandard crops and growers’ focusing on other commodities, said Mike Montna, the president of the California Tomato Growers Association.
The state’s roughly 200 tomato farmers grow 95% of the tomatoes used in canned goods in the U.S., according to the association
A total of 10.5 million tons of tomatoes were grown in California last year. The crop is harvested about four months after planting, and this year growers were projected to produce 12.4 million tons, but expectations have fallen since the storms hit.
some of the state’s roughly 200 tomato farmers, who grow 95% of the tomatoes used in canned goods in the U.S.,
“I think most believe our yields will be off this year, but how much really depends on Mother Nature,” Montna said, estimating that up to 1 million tons of tomatoes could be lost. Others predicted it could be more.
“There’s definitely potential for a shortage,” Montna said.
Bruce Rominger, the chairman of the California Tomato Growers Association, said some tomato commodities could be harder to find this summer and at higher prices.
“It would be something where you won’t see as many choices on your grocery store shelves,” he said. “There will be some categories, maybe ketchup or salsa or a tomato soup, that comes up short.”
Jacobsen is more optimistic, saying that despite the late start, tomato products should be readily available.
“It’s a very limited season, but I don’t expect us to get to that point,” he said. “People are doing what they can to make up ground. Growers are moving quickly to get more plants into the ground.”
Fresno County tomato grower Bret Ferguson said this week he was not ready to predict a national shortage of tomato products.
“There isn’t an overabundance of inventory, but I think processors and distributors will work around it,” he said. “We always, as an industry, have made things work. You won’t see shelves empty of products.”
Farmers said growing later in the season can make crops vulnerable to additional rainfall and higher temperatures, causing plants to rot, mold or die.
Typically, farmers sell their tomatoes to processing plants, where they are packaged into items that are sold directly to grocery stores and other retailers.
Sometimes companies will buy tomato paste from processors to make their own canned products for restaurants and stores.
No matter what happens, the threat of a bad growing season hovers over farmers like the dark skies that loomed over their fields for months.
“If you’re a betting guy and you’re betting on us having a good, average crop or better,” said Barcellos, the San Joaquin Valley farmer, “that’s a bad bet.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
