California tomato canneries are said to be combing the Central Valley for growers with stable water supplies as the contract price for canning tomatoes was set at a record $105 per ton.
A lack of water has prevented California growers from planting as many processing tomatoes – or has caused them to plant at the expense of other commodities.
Tomato processors report contracts for 11.7 million tons grown on 234,000 acres, down from the January forecast of 12.2 million tons, according to the California Farm Bureau. Last year’s production ended up at 10.8 million tons.
Mike Montna, President and Chief Executive of the California Tomato Growers Association, stated that California’s crop has averaged about 6.9% below USDA estimates for the past three years.
While USDA anticipates 5,000 more acres of processing tomatoes this year, Montna says growers may be fallowing fields set aside for other crops.
As canneries combed the Central Valley for growers with reliable water, the price of a record $105 per ton was announced in February - perhaps the earliest agreed-upon price for California canning tomatoes in the last two decades.
Montna told Farm Press the negotiated price between farmers and the canneries reflected an understanding that tomato supplies and water are short, while demand remains strong.
Editor’s Take:
We like to report on crops other than corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton and rice, and this is one of those times. Think about how many products there are on grocery store shelves that are made from tomatoes. Juices, pastes, sauces, catsup, etc. the list goes on. Now, it appears we could be facing another shortage that will drive prices up even further. The west continues to be plagued by drought and water is a scarce commodity – we get that. However, it now appears to be impacting our food supply even greater than ever. There is no easy answer, but surely some of the work being done to improve water use efficiency will help. Plant breeding, using drought resistant genes to reduce water demand while maintaining or improving yields, will also help. It appears that no matter where we turn there is another challenge to keeping the grocery store stocked with plentiful, reasonably priced products – in this instance, tomato products. But this is good news for tomato farmers’ income – who, of course, use trucks on their farms!
