California farmers to destroy 420,000 peach trees after Del Monte collapse
Central Valley growers say Del Monte’s shutdown will leave no buyers for large quantities, prompting plans to destroy 420,000 peach trees and seek up to $9M in federal aid.
California peach farmers are facing a stark choice after Del Monte Foods’ collapse: destroy hundreds of thousands of clingstone trees as growers scramble to find buyers and limit further losses.
Central California growers are preparing to remove around 420. 000 clingstone peach trees following the company’s decision to shut down its canneries earlier this year.. Del Monte’s canning operations in Modesto and Hughson were permanently closed in April after the firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last July. ending a processing pipeline that many orchard owners had depended on for decades.
The shutdown did not only disrupt production plans.. It also left hundreds of workers without jobs and set off a chain reaction across the supply chain.. Growers. the report stated. were hit especially hard because many had 20-year contracts that were lost when Del Monte stopped buying. and they had few alternative customers ready to absorb the sudden increase in unsold fruit.
With orchards suddenly facing a market gap, some estimates point to significant financial damage.. Farmers could face an estimated $550 million in lost revenue, according to the Sacramento Bee.. That figure reflects both the immediate loss of income from unprocessed crop and the longer-term strain of operating without reliable buyers.
In response to the fallout. Senator Adam Schiff and Representatives Mike Thompson and David Valadao announced last week that affected growers could receive up to $9 million in federal aid.. The aid is intended to help remove up to 420. 000 clingstone peach trees before the upcoming harvest season. which typically runs from late May through September.
The emergency assistance, as described by the officials, would support removal of about 3,000 acres of clingstone peach orchards. The plan aims to reduce supply in a season when growers would otherwise risk flooding the market with fruit they can’t sell.
Officials also tied the tree-removal effort to the possibility of preventing even larger losses.. Removing about 50. 000 tons of peaches from production could reduce oversupply and save farmers an estimated $30 million in additional losses. the officials said.. After the removals, growers would be able to pivot to another crop rather than continuing on an unworkable production schedule.
Valadao said in a statement that for generations. Central Valley family farms have relied on Del Monte’s Modesto facility to process their peaches.. The remark underscores how deeply the company’s processing capacity had been woven into orchard planning. from planting cycles to contracted harvest volumes.
The federal intervention follows concerns raised by lawmakers as early as March.. In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. Schiff. Thompson. Valadao and 39 other members of Congress warned that many of the impacted farmers are multigenerational family growers.. They said these producers had spent decades building their orchards and that without federal help. the disruption could cause lasting harm to the country’s agricultural system.
Thompson. in announcing the aid package. emphasized that when a processing facility closes and large areas of fruit suddenly have nowhere to go. it is not something a family farm can simply absorb.. The warning points to a structural problem: growers may not be able to reconfigure quickly when processing plants shut down and contracts disappear.
Meanwhile, the situation is shaped by what happened after a court allowed Del Monte to sell its assets.. Pacific Coast Producers bought Del Monte’s canned fruit business. and the company agreed to buy about 24. 000 tons of peaches from farmers.. However. sources indicate that still leaves about 50. 000 tons without a buyer. meaning a significant portion of the crop would not be used.
That gap is at the heart of why the removal plan is being pursued. If large quantities of fruit cannot be processed or marketed, orchards face mounting costs and losses, and growers may choose destruction to limit further economic damage and prepare for the next planting decision.
Del Monte collapse California peach farmers clingstone peach trees federal aid Central Valley agriculture orchard removal