The California table grape season is slowly coming to a close. We expect to wrap up our California season and transition into Peruvian fruit at the end of this month or first week of January. We will expand our offshore offerings to Chilean grapes as well in early to mid-January.
The recent cold weather has done a good job of starting the dormancy process on our trees and vines. This not only helps our plants receive their much-needed rest after a long season, but it allows our employees to make better pruning decisions. Without the leaves, the pruners can see the entire woody structure and adjust their cuts to leave the appropriate amount of fruiting wood for each tree or vine. We have begun calculating chill hours for our trees for the winter season and will continue to do so until bud break.
We are now pruning all commodities, tree fruit and table grapes. Pruning in the trees will finish before the end of the year. We expect to finish vineyard pruning around the end of January. The rain we have been anticipating may finally come to fruition this month.
It’s the season of giving, and once again HMC Farms employees have chosen to host a tree of hope for the Marjaree Mason Center, Fresno County’s only dedicated provider of domestic violence shelter and support programs. Members of the HMC team picked wish list items from the tree and purchased both Christmas gifts and everyday staples for the residents of Marjaree Mason Center.
A few members of the HMC Farms team recently participated in a panel at West Hills College focused on the Fresno-Merced Future of Food (F3) Innovation AgTEC initiative. This initiative focuses on developing a skilled, next generation workforce to support advanced, sustainable food production and manufacturing. As you’ve seen through our Ag tech topics over the summer, we are focused on improving jobs and processes through the use of ag technology and this was a great opportunity to talk about an example of how we’ve made that happen.
As the seasons change, the trees adjust to their new environment. Leaves change, then drop; limbs are pruned to encourage new growth in the Spring, and soil is enriched to replenish any nutrients that were depleted during the summer season.
Around this time toward the end of harvest season and on the cusp of the holiday season, we tend to pause and reflect on things we are thankful for from the past year. Many years we have the same gratitude list: health, family, community, and a safe place to call home. This year, we are adding the extra precipitation that provided us with an abundance of water, although it arrived in an unusual way. Always at the top of our list is the opportunity to do what we love with our family and a team of employees who‘ve become our extended families. Thank you for being part of that every year.
This month was our final table grape harvest for the 2023 California season. Available varieties are Allison for red seedless, and Autumn King for green seedless. We are removing plastic from vines and are lightly irrigating fields since most of the predicted storms subsided as the rainy days approached. We are beginning to prep orchards for the upcoming season by installing trellis systems and preparing the fields for new plantings.
This month California was in a drought and a flood at the exact same time. We are ending the year with 40% more precipitation than last year, but unfortunately our state does not have the infrastructure to capture all the water that is rapidly falling upon us. On average, a “normal” rain day in California is 0.25″-0.75″, but these atmospheric river storms are bringing 2″+ of water at a time. While our vineyards and orchards are equipped to handle the weather, many places are not. The reservoirs are currently at half capacity and snowpack is already up to 200% of average, and we still have several months of weather ahead of us. Even though a lot of water will be lost to the ocean rather than being captured, the reservoirs and groundwater will get a much-needed recharge which is a big positive.
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Pruning continues in our California vineyards. All acreage is pre-pruned with a machine that removes top half of the last season’s growth mechanically. The final pruning cuts are then made by hand with crews that have been trained to leave the precise amount of wood to ensure the optimal health of the vine and growth for future crops. These cuts form “spurs” (the positions on the vine from which this year’s growth will come) along the “cordons” (the main lateral limbs coming from the trunk). Because grapes are a vine, the growth each year is rapid. A fully
mature vine will be pruned back to essentially the same place every season.
Grape shipments from Peru have resumed at normal levels. Last month’s social unrest created a delay in shipments, which caused tight supply conditions this month. As we move into February, we should see the situation change, with ample supply of both Peruvian and Chilean grapes.
The storms have ended for the time being and bloom is right around the corner. Things here are wet, but the fields need it and the sandier soils in our area are draining nicely. The charts above show that while we received a historic amount of rainfall, a lot of the water was unable to be captured in reservoirs and instead drained into the ocean. In 2014 Proposition 1: The Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act, a $7.5 billion bond dedicated $2.7 billion for the public benefits of new water storage projects, was passed. Since then, nothing has been built to improve our water infrastructure. The drought combined with the floods are shedding a new light on the legislative issues that have contributed to our current water crisis.
The conditions this winter have been ideal for growing tree fruit. Our orchards are currently tracking at 963 chill hours for the season. This is a 190-hour increase from this time last season. Chill hours can have different definitions, but we calculate our hours by measuring the time the temperature is 45 degrees Fahrenheit or below. Fruit trees need a specific number of chill hours each winter to regulate their growth. If a tree doesn’t experience enough chill hours in the winter the flower buds might not open at all in spring, or they might open unevenly Fortunately, we have already received plenty of chill hours for the season and any cold weather is appreciated until the buds break and blossoms emerge.
The fall rains are upon us. At the beginning of the month, we received over ¾ of an inch, which is substantial for our area. The storm was cold enough for snow in the mountains, and hopefully this is the start of some form of drought relief. Once it dried out, we continued pruning tree fruit orchards and wrapped up harvest on the grapes for the year. Overall, the weather has been nice and cool, which helps the trees enter dormancy and accumulate chill hours. Dormancy is important during pruning because it allows the trees to drop their leaves, giving the pruners a better view of the tree structure and make better cutting decisions. Chill hours are important because it allows the trees to enter their “resting” stage, and a more rested tree is a tree that will wake up happy and ready to go in 2023!
As we learn about and incorporate Ag technology into our farming methods, the goal is not to remove workers or jobs, but rather to improve jobs so that our employees can manage the same amount of work with less physical stress. Ag tech also helps us ensure that we can continue to grow and sell fresh produce as our environmental and political environment continues to shift. In reality, adding technology to our fields will end up saving jobs in the long run by ensuring that we are able to operate for generations to come. Tevel Aerobotics and HMC Farms are working together to create this future.
A huge part of being a family run business is contributing to our community. We live where we work, and coworkers are friends as well as neighbors. Pictured above are one of the many HMC Farms teams, full of family members, coworkers and our community. A life in farming is not simply trees and vines, it is not just what we do, it is who we are, and we are proud to provide for the community whenever possible. We are thankful every day for the opportunity to grow food for our families.
The week before Thanksgiving, HMC employees gathered to volunteer at the Fresno Food Bank. The Fresno Food Bank is an organization that we feel very strongly about. We know both our financial and personal efforts are well directed, as the Food Bank provides crucial support to those that are less fortunate in our community. Each year we donate produce as well as our time. In 2022 HMC Farms donated over 500,000 lbs. to the Central California Food Bank.
We’re starting the new year with a good amount of precipitation on the books already this winter, and a gorgeous view of the snowy Sierra Nevada mountains from our office. September-December of 2021, we received 7.52″ of rain on our farms, compared with only 1.89″ in the same timeframe in 2020. We have already blown past the 7.07″ total for Sept 2020-June 2021, and more rain is likely on the way over the next couple of months. In December alone, we received just over five inches of much needed rain on our farms, which is a big step forward from the 1.45″ of precipitation we measured in December of 2020. We are close to wrapping up pruning in our stone fruit orchards, and pruning more heavily in our table grape vineyards during this break in the rain. The weather has been cold, which is perfect for pruning and for accumulating necessary chill hours for our trees and vines.
With the rain we’ve had this winter comes another weather event: Tule fog. Tule fog is a radiation fog that forms in the Central Valley when the ground is damp and temperatures are low. The fog is so dense that visibility is measured in feet, and when visibility is too low our local schools have a late-start “foggy day schedule” to allow the fog to lighten up a bit before school buses can safely operate.Once we’ve finished pruning our trees, we will go back through our traditional orchards to repair any damaged roping, which helps keep the trees in a vase shape and supports the weight of next season’s crop. We are almost ready to plant new trees in the blocks we prepped over the past few months.
January is National Blood Donor Month, and HMC Farms recently hosted an employee blood drive in partnership with Central California Blood Center. Our participants ranged from multiple first time donors to a member of the five gallon club. All of the blood collected at our event will be put to good use in life-saving measures in the Central Valley.
We are done pruning trees in our stone fruit orchards, and through the majority of our grapevine pruning. We are finishing up the final touches on new irrigation systems in our prepped blocks, and we will plant new trees once installation is complete. Field activity will slow down over the next couple of weeks as our trees begin to bloom. By mid-February, the Central Valley should be full of orchards covered in pink and white blossoms.
Estamos podando los árboles de nuestros huertos de frutales de hueso para prepararlos para el invierno. La poda nos permite dar forma a los árboles para preparar el nuevo crecimiento y la cosecha del próximo año. En la foto de arriba, el lado izquierdo de este bloque de frutales de hueso de alta densidad está podado y el lado derecho aún no se ha podado.
La preparación de los bloques se lleva a cabo en nuestras granjas. Antes de las nuevas plantaciones, realizamos múltiples pasos para preparar la tierra. En la foto de arriba, una gran máquina llamada ripper excava más de 1,5 metros en el suelo con un mango largo para romper las vetas duras o compactadas en el suelo, lo que proporciona un mejor entorno para el crecimiento de las raíces.
Este es el momento del año para reflexionar y dar las gracias. A pesar de los muchos desafíos de este año, tenemos mucho que agradecer. Esos retos nos han dado la oportunidad de adaptarnos y crecer, y hemos superado con éxito un verano sin precedentes. Aunque el Día de Acción de Gracias puede ser diferente este año para muchos de nosotros, esperamos que pueda pasar algún tiempo de calidad con sus seres queridos, ya sea en persona o virtualmente.
Bienvenidos a una nueva década! Aunque sea invierno en nuestras granjas, todavía hay mucho que hacer...
El tiempo reciente ha proporcionado algunas horas de frío cruciales para nuestros árboles y vides. Las horas de frío se producen cuando la temperatura está entre 32°F y 45°F mientras nuestros árboles y vides están inactivos. Cada variedad y tipo de fruta tiene diferentes necesidades de horas de frío, que pueden oscilar entre 100 y 800 horas aproximadamente. Actualmente tenemos más de 700 horas de frío registradas en nuestras fincas. Esto supone unas 200 horas más de las que teníamos a estas alturas del año pasado. Las precipitaciones de enero en nuestras explotaciones están en la media del Valle Central. Una vez que se han alcanzado las horas de frío y el tiempo empieza a ser cálido, nuestros árboles y vides empiezan a salir del letargo, señalado por los brotes y las floraciones.
El tiempo en el Valle Central de California tiene sus propios atributos. Una de las cosas que nos distingue es la niebla de tule. No es una niebla ordinaria, la niebla tule es una niebla de radiación, que se forma cuando la humedad es alta y el suelo está frío con poco o ningún viento. Esta densa niebla terrestre se forma a menudo en los días siguientes a la lluvia en el Valle Central, provocando tramos de muy baja visibilidad - a menudo 1/4 de milla (.4 km) o menos. Esta baja visibilidad conduce a "horarios de días de niebla" en nuestras escuelas locales, ya que los autobuses escolares y los padres esperan a que la visibilidad aumente para que las condiciones de conducción sean seguras.
Los árboles de nuestros huertos de alta densidad han crecido hasta un punto que abre la puerta a un nuevo método de poda de árboles utilizando una plataforma en lugar de escaleras. En comparación con el uso de la escalera, la plataforma ahorra tiempo y aumenta la seguridad de nuestros equipos de campo al eliminar la necesidad de subir y bajar una escalera y luego moverla unos metros para comenzar el proceso de nuevo. La plataforma es beneficiosa para muchas actividades agrícolas en nuestros huertos de alta densidad, incluyendo la poda, el aclareo y la cosecha. Estamos muy contentos de ver cómo este nuevo equipo aumentará nuestra eficiencia a lo largo del ciclo de la fruta del árbol este año.
La plantación de alta densidad, que se muestra arriba, permite a nuestros equipos agrícolas podar, ralear y cosechar las filas organizadas con mayor eficiencia. Ahora que estos árboles han crecido lo suficiente, traeremos un sistema de poda de plataforma para prepararlos para el invierno y la próxima temporada. Este nuevo método de cultivo dará como resultado, en última instancia, una calidad de producto aún mejor y un sistema de entrega más eficiente para el sistema de fruta de hueso de California.
Actualización de los cultivos:
Nuestro clima finalmente se ha puesto al día con el calendario. Desde el Día de Acción de Gracias, hemos recibido unas 2,59″ de lluvia, lo que supone más del 20% de nuestra media anual. El domingo, una tormenta eléctrica dejó caer bastante granizo en algunos puntos de nuestras granjas inactivas. El pronóstico muestra que no habrá lluvia durante el fin de semana, con precipitaciones que aparecerán de nuevo hacia el final de la próxima semana. Esta semana hemos tenido algunas mañanas de niebla, que probablemente continuarán debido a la humedad del suelo.
La poda tradicional es bastante laboriosa y siempre buscamos formas de mejorar el proceso. Este año, estamos utilizando una prepodadora para preparar la poda de nuestros viñedos. La prepodadora elimina el exceso de crecimiento y realiza un corte básico en las vides, reduciendo significativamente la cantidad de tiempo que los equipos necesitan para podar. Esto debería permitir a los equipos acceder más fácilmente a las vides para realizar una poda específica, haciendo que el proceso general sea más eficiente.
Actualización de los cultivos:
Durante las vacaciones de Acción de Gracias, finalmente se produjeron algunas precipitaciones en nuestra zona, lo que nos permitió completar la vendimia justo antes de que empezara a llover. La falta de lluvias tempranas este año ha sido muy inusual, pero parece que hemos vuelto a la carga. Estamos retirando las cubiertas contra la lluvia en nuestros viñedos de uva y podando en nuestros huertos de fruta de hueso, tomando descansos para disfrutar de las "vacaciones del agricultor" durante el bienvenido tiempo de lluvia.
La poda está en pleno apogeo en nuestros huertos frutales tradicionales, como se ve en la foto de arriba. Como se puede ver, los árboles están desprovistos de hojas, lo que permite a nuestros equipos distinguir entre la madera más vieja y la madera fructífera. Pronto comenzaremos la poda en nuestros huertos de plantación de alta densidad, que es un proceso ligeramente diferente. La poda nos permite preparar la siguiente temporada manteniendo la forma y la estructura de los árboles.
Actualización de los cultivos:
La cosecha de uva de mesa de HMC Farms está terminando rápidamente. El tiempo ha seguido cooperando con nuestra cosecha, ayudando a mantener una excelente calidad de la uva. Parece que finalmente podremos ver algo de precipitación a mediados de la próxima semana. El pronóstico muestra temperaturas altas en los 60s con algunas bajas nocturnas frías para comenzar la semana de Acción de Gracias.
