Some of California's fig production saw an earlier end to the season this year. "We have finished up already. I think a lot of it was just due to the heat that we got in the middle of the summer–it just tired out the trees," says Erik Herman of The Specialty Crop Co.
Normally fig production in the state finishes around Thanksgiving and into early December. This year, the harvest finished about a month earlier than anticipated. "The overall volume was similar or slightly up year over year. However the sizing was slightly smaller and that goes back to that heat that we were dealing with,' he says. "It was one of the hottest summers which affected fig trees and other commodities."
Strong demand this season
That said, the demand was good this season for figs. As for pricing, it was similar to last year though it strengthened towards the end of the season.
Meanwhile, looking ahead at the 2025 season, The Specialty Crop is planting more fig trees in different areas and of different varieties including the Emerald, a green fig that's larger in size and similar to the Calimyrna fig. "It's a good sized fig that tastes and looks good and we should have that coming into production this coming season in limited quantities," says Herman, adding that it is also looking at different pruning styles to try and extend the California fig season as long as possible.
For more information:
Erik Herman
The Specialty Crop Co.
Tel: +1 (559) 661-8253
[email protected]
https://www.speccrop.com