Crop Update

30 September 2011
Our Valued Customers and Friends

We are still on schedule to begin packing our new crop lemons next week on Wednesday, October 5th. We will also be packing on Thursday and Friday, October 6th and 7th. We have done a good job of both queuing the groves for harvest and initially harvesting this very light crop of lemons. Looking at the fruit for the last couple of weeks as it was being pre-graded for input into gas, it is fairly obvious that our abnormally windy spring and summer has left us with more wind scar, percentage-wise, that what we’ve encountered during the last two seasons. This will lead to daily packouts that are heavier to choice grade than fancy grade. On a more positive note, we haven’t seen the amount of botrytis bump that we thought we saw when we were looking at the lemons on the tree. Staying on positive notes the size structure of the lemons was and is being picked for the more desirable large and medium-large lemon market. When we pack next week we expect to peak on 140's follow 115's. And it looks right now that there will be more 95's than 165's. Smaller sized lemons (200's and smaller) will run less than 5 percent of the total packout. Annie and Maggie will be back here in the sales office beginning Monday, October 3rd.

We ran a test on the developing Rio Red Grapefruit crop and lo and behold the block of fruit with the best size tested positive for harvest and pack. So we harvested the block yesterday and today and will have grapefruit to pack the end of next week, probably Friday, October 7th. The brix (sugar) tested an 8.5 and the sugar/acid ratio is nearly 7 to 1. The size structure looks like the run will peak on 36's follow 40's. There should be a good smattering of 32's and even a few 27's. Smaller sized fruit, 48's and smaller, will be limited. This October grapefruit should sweat out a pinkish-red blush against a yellowish-pink background. And the fruit cuts red.

We finished our crop estimate on the Minneola Tangelos. As expected, the crop volume was affected by the February 2011 freeze but by not nearly as much as the very light lemon crop. Give me another month before I stick my neck out on what we think the size structure might be at the time of harvest. We are still planning on kicking off the harvest the Monday after Thanksgiving and will have fruit to pack and sell the week of December 5th. Like the lemons, we expect to have minnies to pick, pack, and sell through the middle to end of January.

Finally, this fourth generation family owned and operated agribusiness could not be more proud of our decades old quality control and safety and security assurance programs as we enter our thirty-third season of operations. The 2011-2012 season will mark the twenty-eighth year of blanket USDA shipping point inspection on every carton of every variety we pack. This will be the twentieth season that all our fruit and wax coatings will be certified "kosher and parve" by the Igud Hakashrus of Los Angeles indicated by the "Heart K" kosher mark on all our cartons. And our Food Safety and Food Security programs and packing facility will be officially audited and inspected by Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) this month when we fully expect to receive a rating of "Superior", the highest score/rating achievable !

Reminding you that not only THE BEST IS ARIZONA GROWN but is Associated Grown, Packed, and Shipped, we are always at your service ... Bill, Mark & Ann



Crop Update

31 August 2011
Our Valued Customers and Friends

The Arizona/California Desert freeze of February 11 was severe enough to damage fruiting wood which has affected the volume of the upcoming 2011/2012 season lemon crop. Of the two producing sub-districts - the California Desert and Arizona - the California Desert was hurt the least and Arizona was hurt the most by the freeze. The "official" estimate for the entire Arizona/California Desert producing district is for forty-five to fifty percent of a "normal" crop. The breakdown between the two producing sub-districts shows the California Desert to have approximately sixty-five percent of a "normal" crop while Arizona only has twenty-five to thirty percent of a "normal" crop. In addition, because the freeze was actually beyond the end of the normal "freeze damaging/destroying period" in the Desert, this season’s light crop was very late setting and as such has not had the normal amount of growing/fruit sizing time to this point in the season since the later bloom periods. Remember, too, that there is fifteen to twenty percent of fruit volume between each lemon size. With such a light crop it would not make sense to harvest small fruit as more pieces of fruit in the box early will ultimately reduce an already light crop. Therefore, the beginning harvesting and subsequent beginning pack dates will be much later than in a normal season for most Desert packers. We have also experienced yet another abnormally windy spring and summer. On such a light crop these winds have produced even more wind scar percentage-wise than what we have had to endure the last two seasons. We are also seeing a heavier percentage of botrytis bump as a secondary result of the wind. We expect there to be more choice and standard grade lemons than fancy lemons throughout the abbreviated season. Fancy grade customers, both domestic and export, will experience season long difficulties of varying degrees in procuring fancy lemons from the Desert producing districts. Lemon packing at Associated is scheduled to begin the week of October 3rd, probably Wednesday, October 5th or Thursday, October 6th. Look for a 140 peak follow 115's and then 165's. We expect to have lemons to pick, pack, and sell through the middle to end of January 2012. Annie and Maggie will be back in the sales office on Monday, October 3rd. I will be back in the packinghouse Tuesday, September 20th.

The 2011-2012 Minneola tangelo crop was also affected volume-wise by the February 11 freeze although not to as great an extent as the less cold hardy lemons. We expect to begin the harvest the Monday after Thanksgiving and look to pack the first of them the week of the 5th of December. In plenty of time this year for Christmas ad business !

The developing Rio Red Grapefruit crop is already showing 40's and 48's with even a few 36's. We’ll run sugar/acid ratio tests the week of the 19th of September to see how close we are to maturity. With any luck, we’ll have grapefruit to offer the first week of October right along with the lemons.

Finally, this fourth generation family owned and operated agribusiness could not be more proud of our decades old quality control and safety and security assurance programs as we enter our thirty-third season of operations. The 2011-2012 season will mark the twenty-eighth year of blanket USDA shipping point inspection on every carton of every variety we pack. This will be the twentieth season that all our fruit and wax coatings will be certified "kosher and parve" by the Igud Hakashrus of Los Angeles indicated by the "Heart K" kosher mark on all our cartons. And our Food Safety and Food Security programs and packing facility will be officially audited and inspected by Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) this month when we fully expect to receive a rating of "Superior", the highest score/rating achievable !

Reminding you that not only THE BEST IS ARIZONA GROWN but is Associated Grown, Packed, and Shipped, we are always at your service ... Bill, Mark & Ann