While some key California citrus industry players agree the storm working its way down the state is generally positive, others have raised concerns about its unfortunate timing.

New agencies reported the storm was one of the most ferocious in several years, with extremely strong winds in some northern parts of the state that have left a large number of people without power.

California Citrus Mutual president Joel Nelsen yesterday [Dec. 11] told www.freshfruitportal.com the storm looked set to hit the main citrus production regions during Thursday night and Friday morning, and he saw it as a positive for the sector.

"In the short-term it interrupts picking, obviously, but that's not too bad," he said.

"What this storm does is create more water for storage, and so we can start to climb out of this drought, and it will also help reinvigorate the trees, which helps with fruit sizing.

"This fruit that's on the trees is still growing, and we're about six weeks into the season with another 26 weeks ahead of us, so the more we can get this fruit to grow the better off we're going to be."

The California Navel harvest season began around mid-October, but Nelsen said a lack of rainfall over the summer had led to a smaller-than-usual fruit sizing.

"That's not ideal for marketing. So with the additional water invigorating the tree it will help make the tree a little bit larger and that's why we think it's a plus all the way round," he said.

"By the end of January our fruit size should be showing the positive effects."

Grower perspectives

The heads of three of the state's biggest citrus producers - Sun Pacific, Paramount Citrus, Limoneira - also gave us their take on the situation.

Sun Pacific president Bob DiPiazza described the situation as 'pretty straightforward', saying the adverse weather was coming at a very inconvenient time.

"If we get this storm then we won't be able to pick and we'll have to let the fields dry out before we go in and pick, so it's going to put us behind on packing at a very critical time," he said.

"We desperately need the rain, and as luck would have it it comes just when demand is peaking for the holidays."

DiPiazza added while the company had not witnessed any significant tree loss as a result of the drought thanks to its irrigation systems and wells, the situation was reaching a stage where the size of the wells would have had to be increased in what would be a costly operation.

"Now I'm not saying that this rain is going to eliminate that, but certainly it's going to help fill the water tables," he said.

Paramount Citrus president David Krause had a more positive take on the matter, saying harvesting disruptions would be limited and the company was well-prepared.

"We're happy to see all the rainfall and the snow that's going to come from it, but we don't see any adverse impacts to the citrus business, other than a couple of days of harvest interruption," he said.

"We anticipated the weather as well - it's well telegraphed so we've actually harvested it in advance of that so we're in good shape. We've picked ahead and covered inventory in the house so we've got plenty to cover orders for the next few days."

He added that "any rain in California is a good thing", but the process of reinvigorating the trees would likely be long and slow.

"Concerning citrus and weather events, particularly rain, while there may be problems that arise from any event, we'll gladly take it in exchange for that resource," added Limoneira COO Alex Teague.

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