This year’s California avocado crop looks good but will likely come in a little lighter than expected.
In January, avocado-producing areas of California experienced heavy winds. Ventura County producer Chris Sayer told AgNet West last month that the extreme wind event caused some damage. “We had sustained 50-mile hour winds for (two days),” he said. “We’ve got a few trees knocked over, a few limbs broken. Probably about 20 percent of our avocado crop ended up on the ground. This is an event that we will feel in the bottom line this year.”
Sayer was correct. The California Avocado Commission said fall and winter weather events including high winds have dropped the production forecast eight percent. The commission now believes the total yield for the 2020/2021 crop will be around 292 million pounds.
“We are anticipating an excellent season in 2021, with promotable volume and a full complement of creative California avocado marketing support starting in the spring,” Jan DeLyser, California Avocado Commission vice president marketing, said in a release.
The commission noted that the decrease and new total of 292,000 tons are viewed as an average size crop.
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