Quarantine disrupts avocado farmers' Super Bowl market

Issue Date: February 3, 2010

By Ron Miller

Mediterranean fruit fly quarantines continue to create problems for farmers in San Diego County, as changing weather alters treatment schedules.

Because of chilly temperatures, pre-harvest treatments were recently extended by nine days. That caused Dan Pettigrew of Fallbrook and other avocado growers to miss the high-demand window for fruit marketed prior to the Super Bowl.

The California Avocado Commission calls Super Bowl Sunday the biggest promotional event of the year, because avocados are a key ingredient in popular dips and snack foods. Historically, prices are strong in the two weeks prior to the game, as retailers prepare for the sales jump for Super Bowl party food.

Marketers said the harvest delays experienced by individual farmers would not affect the overall availability of avocados for the Super Bowl.

Pettigrew had harvest crews lined up to start picking this week, but learned that the pre-harvest treatment period had been extended, effectively pushing that block of avocados out of the Super Bowl market. Not all California avocado growers have fruit ready in January and February. But Pettigrew manages his orchards to have large, mature avocados on the trees at the right time.

Fortunately for Pettigrew, he has another block of avocados outside the quarantine zone and he was able to harvest that fruit for the Super Bowl market. He said he isn't certain how much money he might lose because of the restrictions on the one block of his trees.

"Farming is a gamble, getting produce to market when the price is good. It might be better when my fruit can be shipped or it could be worse," he said.

The exact number of growers within Medfly quarantine zones isn't clear. Most have signed compliance agreements and are able to market fruit eventually, although incurring more expense.

Restricting the movement of fruits and vegetables and treating crops are part of a plan to stop the crop-destroying pest, which threatens more than 260 California-grown fruits and vegetables. An infestation could cost San Diego County farmers alone as much as $280 million in lost crops.

Quarantines last for three life cycles of the Medfly after the last are found in traps. The life cycle varies from 21 to 100 days, depending on temperatures.

Until the quarantine ends, neither farmers nor urban residents are allowed to move fruit or vegetables without treatment and certification by government officials as good to sell.

The Medfly quarantines do have tentative dates to be lifted. San Diego County Farm Bureau Executive Director Eric Larson said the Fallbrook quarantine might be lifted July 16 and the Escondido one July 28.

"That could change," Larson added. "Warmer temperatures might shorten the time; cold temperatures could extend it."

Meanwhile, a technical working group overseeing the Medfly program, composed of scientists who study how best to eradicate infestations, is considering plans to broaden the areas of San Diego County where airplane releases of sterile Medflies occur.

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service spokesman Larry Hawkins said, "After five outbreaks of Medfly infestations in San Diego County in the past 18 months, the group members believe additional work is needed to prevent this from continuing."

The program could be similar to those in Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties, where crews release sterile male flies that mate with wild female flies to combat Medfly outbreaks.

Of the five Medfly quarantine zones established in San Diego County since November 2008, three did not include farming regions. The first flies were discovered in the El Cajon region and then in Mira Mesa, where quarantines have been lifted after successful eradication.

Quarantines continue in Imperial Beach as well as Escondido and Fallbrook. Fertile flies were found in September 2009 in Escondido and November 2009 in Fallbrook, and those two quarantines do impact farms. Inspectors believe residents of southern San Diego County inadvertently spread the flies by taking infested fruit to the new locations in the northern part of the county.

(Ron Miller is a reporter for Ag Alert. He may be contacted at rmiller@cfbf.com.)

Permission for use is granted, however, credit must be made to the California Farm Bureau Federation when reprinting this item. Top