Yolo County tomato grower Frank Muller said he expected a little bit of rain this spring to help grow his tomatoes.

But he didn't expect that the rain would last till June. The cool and wet weather caused the presence of bacterial speck on tomato crops at the Muller Ranch in Woodland.

At the end of this year's tomato harvest, Muller is one of the many growers in Yolo County reporting lower amounts of processing tomatoes than last year, said agricultural commissioner Rick Landon.

"The tomato crop in general was not a disaster by any means," Muller said, "it was just disappointing after last year's huge yields."

Last year, processing tomatoes was the county's No. 1 agricultural commodity, Landon said. Yolo County produced 1.8 million tons of processing tomatoes with a value of $86.1 million, according to the annual crop report.

The amount of tomatoes produced this year will be less but more than the 1.2 million tons produced in 2003, Landon said. This year's official results will be available next May.

Abnormal weather was key in this year's processing tomato production decrease, said Gene Miyao, a farm advisor for vegetable crops from UC Davis' Cooperative Extension.

"The reason why tomatoes are widely grown in the Central Valley is because our weather conditions are supposed to be stable," he said. "We expect rainfall to occur in January and then warm and dry summers. Those weather conditions favor tomato production."

This year's weather was far from ideal, Muller said. The continuous wet weather led to bacterial speck on tomato crops this spring. Bacterial speck infects the tomato's leaves and reduces the plants' ability to grow rapidly, Miyao said.

The bacteria disease then increases rapidly inside the tomato plant and reduces the plant growth without killing the plants. Along with increased fuel and fertilizer prices, Muller spent money on fungicides that further increased the cost of producing the tomatoes.

"The increased costs of producing tomatoes have caused more pain than the loss of yield this year," he said.

Bacterial speck caused Muller more pain over the summer. By killing the protective leaves that cover the vine of the tomato plants, it exposes the tomato fruits to the sun.

"My tomatoes were more vulnerable to the heat than before," he said.

And this summer's triple digit heat definitely damaged the crops, Miyao said.

"The temperatures were so prolonged and extreme that more sunburn occurred on the ripening fruit," he said.

Agricultural commissioner Landon was not surprised about the production drop.

"We had superb weather for tomatoes last year," he said. "It's unusual to have such a banner year like we had before so I didn't expect it to be quite as good as it was last year."

The crop decrease can also be connected recent tomato processing plant closures, such as a Del Monte Foods' plant in Woodland, Landon said.

"Many of my friends and their families in the planting business have stopped growing tomatoes especially because of the processing plant turnover," Miyao said.

Tomato processing plants are small and run for long periods of time, Miyao said. The growers work with the extended canning season to provide a continuous supply of tomatoes for canning. They will start planting tomatoes as early as January until early June. Crop harvest lasts from mid-July to mid-October.

There are three big tomato processing plants in Yolo County, Miyao said. The plants are Pacific Coast Producers and the Morning Star in Woodland, and Campbell Soup in Dixon.

"There have been a number of tomato processing plants that have closed down but the presence of the Pacific Coast Producers has helped stabilize tomato prices," Landon said.

Muller said he would grow processing tomatoes next year, provided that the price he receives will return a reasonable profit.

"I don't think the weather will tell you much about what the future of the market," Landon said. "It really has to do more on public interest."

Tomatoes are still in demand, Miyao said. The latest research reveals that tomatoes have some health benefits and a chemical called lycopene that has been able to fight cancer.

"Tomatoes are healthy and they remain a healthy industry," he said.
Caption:

Photo: Tomato harvesters finish picking a field for processing tomatoes just outside of Woodland. Expectations for this year's crop are low but still acceptable. (Deo Ferrer/Daily Democrat)
Section: Agriculture

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