The harvest of new crop carrots is underway in California. "We're starting to see the effects of the recent heat wave as we get into the Cuyama Valley harvest," says Rob Giragosian with Kern Ridge Growers, LLC. "The extended heat with days over 110°F has affected the supply and we're seeing lower yields than expected. It tightened up supply very, very quickly."
The high heat stunts the growth of the carrots and in turn, yields are approximately off by 30-40 percent in some fields. "We've been seeing it in the last two weeks with the sampling so we were bracing for it. We're waiting for actual numbers to come in from the field but we know already from the sampling that the crop will be on the low side," says Giragosian, adding that the harvest will run until mid-October.
Good carrot demand
As for demand, it's strong on regular and baby carrots with back-to-school kicking off. "Last year demand strengthened through November but there are big weeks and smaller weeks so once you averaged it out, it was consistent. It'll find its plateau mid-next month," he says.
Meanwhile, pricing is up a little bit as it was last year at this time–no surprise given the limited availability. "We're slowing down our harvest to give the carrots more time in the ground which limits us on a week-to-week basis," adds Giragosian.
For more information:
Rob Giragosian
Kern Ridge Growers, LLC
Tel: +1 (661) 854-3156
[email protected]
https://kernridge.com/