An inconsistent supply of fall organic fruit is expected this year.
Stephen Paul of Homegrown Organic Farms (HGO) in Porterville, California, said the record heat that scorched the valley from spring to fall took its toll on some of the organic fall fruit crops.
Paul, who is HGO’s deciduous category director, went down the company’s fall lineup and said each crop is on the light side because of high temperatures throughout the year. Heat in the spring impacted the fruit set, summer heat delayed sizing of the fruit and late summer’s high temperatures had other adverse impacts, including delaying the color development on the peel of pomegranates. “The heat is especially challenging on the organic crops,” he said. “We can’t use some of the (chemical) tools that are available to conventional growers.”…