WATSONVILLE REGISTER-PAJARONIAN

October 3, 2006

Apple harvest under way

BY AMANDA SCHOENBERG

CORRALITOS — Despite a later start due to heavy spring rain, the harvest season is in full swing at apple orchards throughout the Pajaro Valley.

“We just have to wait for Mother Nature to come,” said Sylvia Prevedelli, co-owner of Prevedelli Farms. “The timing is a little bit late, but there’s nothing we can do. We want to make sure our flavor is good.”

At Prevedelli Farms, which has operated since 1945 on Pioneer Road, workers are now harvesting Mutsu, Pippin and Fuji apples, some of the 23 varieties grown on the farm’s 70 acres. The third-generation farm, which also grows blackberries, squash and pears, also grows a unique range of heirloom varieties like Bellflower and Black Twig apples, which are popular with consumers, Prevedelli said.

Mitch Bulich, owner of Butier & Bulich Bros. on Varni Road, said a July temperature spike also netted smaller fruit. Bulich said he might end up with 2,500 bins of apples from his 60 acres — which is much less than average — when the season winds down at the end of this month.

“Everybody kind of waited for the fruit to grow,” he said. “It’s a good crop, but not a full crop.”

Compounding the late start, both Prevedelli and Bulich both said they have noted a worker shortage. Berry farmers have also complained of a tight labor market this season, with some growers saying they had 25 percent fewer workers.

At Butier & Bulich Bros., pickers scaled ladders this week to load wooden bins full of Newtown Pippins. Instead of a standard crew of 40 people, forklift operator Jorge Garcia said the number fell to 16 this year.

Garcia said many who return every year did not make it back this time. Several called him from the border asking for help, but he said there was nothing he could do. One worker gave up after being deported five times, Garcia said.

“What can be done?” Garcia asked, an ironic smile spreading across his face. “They need papers.”

“This is probably the worst year I’ve seen,” Bulich added.

But fewer pickers aren’t stopping Bulich, despite what he points out is a steady shift toward berries from the days when apple orchards ruled the Pajaro Valley.
Apple acreage continues to decline, according to the 2005 Santa Cruz County Agricultural Crop and Livestock Report. In 2005, fresh and processed apples generated just more than $9 million, down from $9.4 million in 2004. Total production dropped from 42,978 tons to 42,390 tons as acres in production fell from 2,717 to 2,600.

Bulich is still hanging in there, though, in part because he knows where his apples are headed. Like most growers in the Pajaro Valley, Bulich sells nearly all his apples to Martinelli’s, the 138-year-old Watsonville apple cider company.

“We have a good local buyer,” Bulich said. “If someone else should come out and take over Martinelli’s, then everybody would go out (of business).”
Martinelli’s pays top prices to many local farmers, Prevedelli said.

“We are lucky we have him,” she said, referring to company vice president John Martinelli.

Martinelli said the company works with about 50 contract growers, as well as another 100 smaller operations. Larger growers pick for cold storage, while smaller farmers bring apples directly to the company, which is now processing fruit at two Watsonville plants with 250 workers.
“I bet we buy over 90 percent of the crop from San Juan Bautista from Santa Cruz,” Martinelli said.

He added that, despite decreasing apple acreage, Martinelli said company purchases are up 25 percent in the last five years.

For Martinelli, the flavor of Pajaro Valley apples lends itself perfectly to the company’s cider and apple juice mixes.

“They just have better flavor,” he said. “We think of it in the same way as grape growers in Napa Valley. There are climactic and soil conditions that are conducive to growing a more flavorful apple.”

As opposed to fresh market pickers who harvest earlier, Martinelli’s requires growers to reach sugar contents (called “brix” levels) higher than national standards. Last week, Martinelli said one apple grower insisted he accompany him to the orchard to point out the over-ripe apples falling from trees.
“Our high sugar content requirement forces growers to pick later than they want,” he said. “It’s a delicate balance because we need the brix level, and the grower needs all the fruit on the tree they can get.”

Being the biggest apple buyer around isn’t always easy, Martinelli said.

“I lie awake thinking about it,” Martinelli said. “Our growers rely on us, and we know that. This time of year, it’s a little puckery for us.”