Table olives losing favor on California farms
- Small harvest being reported
- Groves cut, making way for more profitable crops
Central Valley olive growers are reporting one of the smallest harvests in years – 51,000 tons, well under the USDA’s initial estimate of 65,000 tons.
One reason: Fewer olive trees.
Growers, disappointed with the money to be made growing table olives, have been ripping out many of their trees in favor of other crops with a better bottom line.
Producing acreage for next year is estimated at about 25,000. That compares to 36,000 producing acres in 2000. California produces all of the nation’s table olives.
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Posted in California, Olive Tree by: Olives101
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Australia: Watch for major olive pest
The Department of Agriculture and Food is reminding growers that now is the time to be checking olive trees for signs of Olive lace bug.
Department olive industry development officer Dick Taylor said olive lace bug was an established pest on all mainland States in Australia except the Northern Territory.
Mr Taylor said in severe infestations the pest could cause substantial leaf drop from trees which reduced tree vigour and production.
“Most leaf damage occurs from the sucking activity of the bugs,” he said.
“Those signs of olive lace bug feeding can be looked for now and throughout summer.
“Where olive lace bug is present, upper leaf surfaces of infested trees have yellow mottling, with blackish smears on the undersurface.
“Prompt reporting of olive lace bug and treatment is necessary to stop its further spread and minimise the impact on the WA olive industry.”
Posted in Australia | NZ, Olive Tree by: Olives101
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Harvest brings gourmet McEvoy olive oil
By Rob Rogers,
At the McEvoy Ranch, the end of the harvest season comes not with the arrival of turkey, cranberry sauce or stuffing, but with the bottling of “olio nuovo” – a bright-green, strong-tasting oil made from the 550-acre ranch’s freshest olives.
Like almost all of the olive oil produced at the northern Marin ranch – which generates almost all the olive oil produced in Marin – the “olio nuovo” is certified organic, made in small quantities and, at $22 per 375 milliliters, designed more for the gourmand than the casual cook.
“Olives are a small-margin crop,” said Paul Vossen, an olive specialist for the University of California’s Cooperative Extension. “The yields are fairly low, and it’s difficult and expensive to harvest – so when you do, you create a product that is quite costly to produce. But compared to common olive oils on your supermarket shelf, almost all California olive oil is going to be fresher and better-tasting.”
Before publishing heiress Nan Mc Evoy planted her first 1,000 olive trees in 1991, olives had been a part of the California landscape for more than a century. Yet few of those olives were grown for oil, Vossen said.
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Posted in California, Olive Oil, Olive Tree by: Olives101
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It’s olive time again in Sonoma Valley
By Robbi Pengelly,
With the grape harvest wrapped up, the focus has turned to Sonoma Valley’s other crop – olives. Here workers at B.R. Cohn Winery flail at olive trees with long poles like acolytes in some ancient Druid ritual. Next month will mark the launch of the Valley’s annual Olive Festival, complete with the blessing of the olives, olive-themed dinners and olive-curing workshops.
[Source]
Workers at the Gloria Ferrer Winery harvest olives from the winery’s trees last week. The trees, which line the driveway into the winery, have produced award-winning olive oil.
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India: Finolex ventures into olive oil
Finolex Group has stepped into the business of olive oil and chosen a 210-hectare stretch of barren land in Rajasthan for plantation purpose.
Finolex is more known for its electrical and Telecommunications Cables, Optical Fibre Cables, Rigid PVC Pipes, Suspension and Paste Grade PVC Resins, Continuous Cast Copper Rods, PVC Sheets, Electrical Switches and CFL’s.
Finolex Group Chairman Pralhad P. Chhabria said: “Olive was planted in Rajasthan and the distribution of olive oil across the country will begin in a short time from now”.
He said the project is likely to be extended over 2000 hectare land in Rajasthan, and will set an example of how barren land can be used for profitable activities.
Posted in Cashmere | Around, Olive Oil, Olive Tree by: Olives101
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