According to the UCCE (University of California Cooperative Extension), Fresno contributed over 240,000 tons of raisins in 2009. However, the Federal Register predicts that California will only carry in a little more than 84,000 tons of raisins at the end of the 2011 year.
For farmer Bob Pierce, this decrease in production poses positive outcomes for grape growers. In previous years, this mass over-production of raisins has created more supply and not enough demand.
“For the last five years, we’ve only been paid 50 percent of what was picked,” Pierce said. “Now that people have been taking out grape acreages, it has decreased the amount of raisin planters so they are now paying 100 percent of what is picked.”
Pierce says that running a small vineyard has not been enough to make a living. Rather, it is the employee under him, the contractor, who helps to take care of the farm while Pierce focuses on other aspects of his career.
?I work another job and most people have to work another job as well,? Pierce said. ?Years ago people could live comfortably with just a 40 acre farm.?
Harvesting: A three-season process
The process actually begins in January, when farmers need to fertilize and spray the leaves. Some farmers put in manure-like fertilizer during the winter time so that it will decompose into the roots. The grapes must then be trimmed in January by three laborers. Throughout spring, they have to continually fertilize the grapes and weed underneath the vines.
Farmers also need to sweep the burm, which is the stump of the vine. This helps to prevent the proliferation of bugs and keeps the leaves growing strong. To fully take care of this, farmers need to have multiple instruments. These include the shaker, to clean the debris off the raisins, the refractometer, the paper material to lay the grapes on to dry, forklifts, multiple sized tractors, spray material, different types of blowers and cutters.
Farmers have to be careful of bugs that might attack the grapes, and aware of the timing of when to use chemicals because they are only allowed to spray these pests 60 days before the picking date.
?There are spider mites and animals that look like grasshoppers called hoppers,? Pierce said. ?The thing I’ve gotten hit with this years is the hoppers.?
Finally, farmers will begin harvesting grapes as early as the end of August. Harvesting time really depends on whether or not the grapes meet the required sugar percentage. This is measured by the refractometer and must be at least 21 percent.
The sweeter the grape, the more it weighs. On average each acre that Pierce owns produces two and a half tons. His farm gets about 85 tons a year. This year, companies are paying $1,500 per ton, the highest rate in the last five years.
?My 40-acre farm has about 22 thousand lines. Each grape vine will have 30 bunches if it’s done well,? Pierce said. ?The farm will produce about 85 tons. On an average year, I get about two and a half tons per year; on a good year I can get up to three tons or more.?
At four in the morning, 15 to 40 pickers arrive. Each laborer will spend a half to full day picking. Every day, each person will pick about three rows. This process of picking grapes off of the vines and laying them onto water-proof paper takes as long as three to four days.
Over 95 percent of the laborers are of Hispanic descent and the majority of them do not speak fluent English. The workers get paid 26 cents a tray and the contractor gets 34 cents a tray. The contractor also oversees that each worker gets paid. Before they are even allowed to begin working, the contractor must prove that they are legal to work in America.
?I really admire them, because they work very hard,? Pierce said. ?The contractor really makes life easier for me. She has to make sure the workers have bathrooms and sanitized drinking water.?
They will sulfur and leave the grapes to sun-dry for the next two to three weeks. During this time, farmers are observant of weather changes that might damage the product. Pierce says that both rain and strong winds will mess with the quality of the raisin.
?Rain is not a real big problem, there’s more damage with frost and hail,? Pierce said. ?Wind poses the largest problem though, if a windstorm comes, sand imbeds into drying raisins, so they have to process it so they can market it.?
Afterward, the company closely checks and packs all the produce. Anything that is considered too dirty or not dry enough is sent back to the owner to be re-cleaned or thrown away, at their own expense. Therefore farmers are careful to send in sellable produce. Luckily, Pierce finds patronage every year because he has been a partner with the Sunmaid company since he began.
Changing times uproot family inheritences
A lot of times, people will keep vineyards running in the family. It is in this way that Pierce also came about his land.
?This is a one-man vineyard,? Pierce said. ?It’s been passed down and I’ve owned it for the past sixteen years. However, some of the vines are pushing a hundred years.?
Pierce’s farm is not enough to pass down to his three children, so he plans on selling it in a few years. However, Pierce continues this lifestyle because it is enjoyable and beneficial.
“It’s not enough to pass down equally to three children,” Pierce said. “In seven or eight years I’ll sell it. Right now though, it’s an enjoyable lifestyle and it’s a great write-off when doing taxes.”
For more information about other crop harvesting visit Almond farmers sustain bees, fight pests.
