The LandIQ initial acreage estimate, released on 24 April, pegged California bearing acreage at 1.37 million acres. This would be a drop of 591 acres from the season prior and the first time that bearing acreage has decreased since 1995.
The figure comes in marginally higher than the 1.36 million acres used by Terra Nova Trading in its production estimate, which was release last week on 15th April.
Prices saw little change following the release of the report, with one US exporter stating, "the only way we were going to see a big reaction was if LandIQ had majorly trimmed the acreage. This figure is close to industry expectations and doesn't change much from a production standpoint. I know I'm expecting slightly higher removals when the final LandIQ is released, but not enough to move the needle on supply."
The final LandIQ estimate will be released in November and will give a clearer picture of the total bearing acreage for the 2024 crop. Removals were estimated at 71 thousand acres, 12 thousand acres lower than last year's removals figure. Industry sources were expecting this to be adjusted upwards in the final LandIQ figures, and several market participants raised questions over the extent of abandonments this year.
"We've got a lot of growers who have abandoned orchards, but don't have the money to pay for removals. Those figures are getting added to the bearing acreage, but won't contribute to the crop," a US handler said to Mintec.
Source: mintecglobal.com