T here may not be universal agreementabout the future of the California CitrusIndustry, but we can all agree that times

are changing and they’re changing fast! The fol-lowing is some variety information that is aimedat helping you through many of the “new”things that are coming our way as an industry.Please call us if you would like to go into greaterdepth than we had space to provide here.

MANDARINS, MANDARINS,MANDARINS

It seems like mandarins are on everyone’smind these days as growers look for profitablealternatives to crops with low profits. I’ll tryand boil the information down to some keypoints. Attend our Mandarin Field Day onDecember 12th to learn more.

• A mandarin can be defined as “a citrus fruitthat is larger than a kumquat and smaller thanan orange.” Not a fancy definition, but it sim-plifies things.

• Think of mandarins in 4 categories:Satsumas, Clementines, Seedless Selections,and Other. Sats are seedless like navelsoranges, Clementines are seedless when isolat-ed, Seedless Selections are genetically seed-less, Other includes everything else.

• Mandarins are farmed different than othertypes of citrus and each of the 4 categories ofmandarins are farmed different than each other.

• Most mandarin varieties alternate bear andrequire pruning to help regulate the croppinghabit. Satsumas are an exception and rarely alter-nate bear. W. Murcotts alternate slightly whencompared to most other mandarin varieties.

• Satsumas and Clementines are harvestedfrom October- January and have many differentcultivars with relatively short harvest seasons.

• Late Mandarins are harvested from Februaryon and have gotten the most interest lately. W.Murcott (Afourer), Gold Nugget, Shasta Gold,

Pixie and Ortanique are examples.

• Carrizo, C-35, Rich 16-6 trifoliate, andRubidoux trifoliate are common rootstocksfor mandarins. Carrizo and C-35 are themost popular.

• The new release of the seedless TDE’s(Temple x Dancy x Encore) has peaked inter-est, but no commercial plantings exist. They’refuture success is hard to predict. They arenamed Shasta Gold (TDE 2), Tahoe Gold(TDE 3), and Yosemite Gold (TDE 4). Go towww.plantbiology.ucr.edu/people/faculty/ tofind out more information.

• Nules Clementine is the most widely plant-ed Clementine in California. 2002 will be thefirst crop of significance here.

• Fina Sodea Clementine was the firstClementine variety planted here in any quanti-ty. It has been the primary CaliforniaClementine in the markets to date, but is notrecommended for further plantings since better

varieties have been releasedin the past few years.

• W. Murcott (Afourer) isalso trademarked as Delite.The fruit doesn’t granulatewith age and may hold wellon the tree into late spring.Very large plantings of thisvariety are being developed.The fruit’s frost sensitivityis its greatest liability.

• There are 2 “types” ofSatsumas. The ‘Wase’ typeand the ‘Owari’ type. OkitsuWase, Miho Wase, and KunoWase are ‘Wase’ examples.Dobashi Beni, Silverhill,Frost Owari, and Armstrongare ‘Owari’ examples.

‘Wase’ types are larger and earlier than ‘Owaris.’

• The Citrus Clonal Protection Program hasrecently released many new mandarin selec-tions. Little is known about these cultivarsunder California conditions.

• There have been some very large develop-ments of mandarins in the last few years by acouple of large farming companies. Theirinfluence on the market will be significant andmust be evaluated before any grower plantsmandarins.

NAVELSNavels are still the most popular variety

group that we sell at TreeSource. Californiagrowers still recognize that the thermal foothillsof Central California remain the best place onearth for producing high quality navels. Hereare some brief comments on selected varieties.

• Cara Cara Pink Navels are still a goodchoice for the grower that wants to diversify.Earliest harvest is around Christmas for this

Variety Bullet Pointsby Roger Smith

Please see Variety on page 3

FALL 2002

Cara Cara Navels

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David Brown is a 4th generation citrus growerthat currently farms citrus, grapes and applesin the Orange Cove area. His wife, Jill, and herbusiness partner operate a direct marketingbusiness called the Girdled Grape. They have 3sons, Andrew, Adam and Justin. Andrew andAdam are PCA’s in the industry and Justin isattending Law School.

TS: How do you see the future of the CaliforniaCitrus Industry?

Dave: I’m really more concerned about theentire Ag Industry in California. Unlike othercountries in the world, our government doesnot protect our agricultural industry. Case inpoint, Spanish Clementines. For 6% ofSpain’s crop, we risk 100% of all fruit grownin our state.* Citrus production areas aroundthe world have their eye on the US marketbecause the money is here. What is the nextSpanish Clementine? It is a total world mar-ket and my crystal ball is a lot foggier than itused to be.

TS: What are some of the changes you’ve witnessedin recent years?

Dave:• The consolidation of buyers. We are sellingto fewer buyers and more sellers are gettinginto the marketing of California citrus eachyear. I don’t think that is a positive thing forour industry.

• The change in our Valencia market has comeso quickly, even though many of us saw thehandwriting on the wall. I wonder if the samething could happen to our navel market as well?In years past, I was confident that as long as I

produced a good orange, I would always have agood return. I’m not as confident as I used to be.

• In the last 2 or 3 years, how many times havewe seen healthy orchards get pushed out orbudded over? It didn’t used to be that way.

• There are a lot of deciduous houses thatwant to market, as well as pack citrus, so theycan run their facilities year round. There arealso companies that never considered citrusthat are now venturing into it.

• I have so many variety choices for newplantings; I don’t really know what to do. Dowe plant a Clementine, and if so, what vari-ety? Do we plant W. Murcotts, or what aboutthese TDE’s or should we stay with latenavels? I was raised on a farm around Orosiand we bought our first orchard in 1978. Backthen, we used to talk about whether the grovewould be early or could hold. Now I’m look-ing at all these different varieties that wedon’t know much about, wondering if they’refor me. I’m not saying these changes are allbad; it’s just that it’s new and we don’t knowwhere it will lead.

TS: So, how do you find your way through theserapid changes?

Dave: I’m a family farmer and this is what Ido for a living, but it’s hard to separate theemotion from my decisions. It was hard forme to push out 20 acres of healthy Valenciaswhen Valencias got us to where we are today.But you’ve got to set the emotions aside andbite the bullet. A key to our success has beendiversity and I intend to continue to be evenmore diversified in the future.

TS: How do you determine what varieties to plant?

Dave: We own certain properties that aresuited for certain varieties. I also considerthe 2 very large growers in this industry andsee how they can impact the markets theyare in. Are they doing something that iscompatible with what we’re doing? I con-sider market windows to see if a new vari-

ety fits in with changing demand. I askmyself, what windows are we weak in?What do we need to shore up in a specifictime frame?

TS: What keeps you in business?

Dave: This is what I love to do. We are gettinga lot more production per acre and we aremaking a better product and using ourresources more efficiently. The challenge ofhaving the right product and making a greatreturn is exciting. It is getting hard to be opti-mistic about things because of the influenceof the world situation, but the challengekeeps me going.

TS: Do you have a specific concern?

Dave: Aside from government and environ-mental regulations, water and labor issues,I’m concerned about making the rapid switchaway from Valencias. What will happen topacking and marketing charges when pack-inghouses don’t have much activity in thesummer? There are so many unknowns andhopefully we are not cannibalizing our mar-ket and are expanding our consumer base.We want to make the pie larger, not cutpieces thinner.

TS: How do you sum it all up?

Dave: It’s a high stakes poker game. You’renot assured you will win a hand. Before, Iknew we could win a few. I am optimisticthis year because our crop looks good, butI’m not sure what the next 5 years will bring.

TS: Thanks Dave.

*With the 6% of Spain’s Clementine cropbrings with it the heightened risk of the intro-duction of the Mediterranean Fruit Fly.

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If you have attended TreeSourceField Days in the last couple ofyears, you have seen our workwith Mini-Citrus Trees. When anorder is placed, these trees can beproduced in 6-20 weeks, depend-ing on the circumstances. We useour cone seedlings and a special-ized micro grafting technique wehave developed.

So how does a Mini-tree helpthe average grower? It providesyou an easier way to grow yourown trees that can help you man-age your tree costs. A mini-tree is too smallto plant out in a grove setting, but it’s a per-fect “starter” for your own ranch nursery.Anyone that has done their own nursery willtell you that the toughest and most important

part is raising a quality seedlingand getting them budded properlywith appropriate budwood. Even ifyou do a good job, you will have apercentage of bud failure anddevelopment delays caused byinsect damage that affects theyield and quality of your trees.

With a mini-tree, we improveyour chances of success because thetree is already budded for you. Inthe same time it takes to get aseedling started, you can have amini-tree most of the way up the

stake! All you have to do is plant it and keep italive and it will grow large enough to set into agrove planting. Mini-trees can be planted incontainers or in quality soil (adobe soils com-plicate things). They’ll still need irrigation, fer-

tilizer, staking, pest control, frost protectionand suckering, but your chances for successare greatly increased over the more traditionalcitrus nursery methods. TreeSource will alsoprovide you with a care guide to help you learnhow to “nursery” your mini-trees.

Mini-Citrus Trees cost only $3.50 each ifyou order 600 trees or more. It is likely that yourgrowing costs would not exceed $2.00 more,which means you can have quality nursery treesfor as little $5.50 each! Check with youraccountant and you may also discover some taxadvantages if you finish your own trees. You canfind more information on our web site atwww.citrustreesource.com or call Roger Smithat (559)804-6176. We also can box and shipthese trees by UPS, so if you have friends out-of-state or overseas that want to “nursery” citrustrees, we can accommodate them.

Introducing Mini-Citrus Trees

Fukumoto is an early navel that will testbefore color break, breaks color a bit before theEarly Beck, has a red-orange color, a goodshape, and good fruit size. It has been plantedextensively on Carrizo, C-35, Rough Lemon,Volkameriana, and some Trifoliate rootstocks.Carrizo provides the earliest color break whileVolkameriana and Rough Lemon break about10 days later. Its consistent fruit size and highexternal color may be its greatest attribute overother early navels.

Fukumoto has had problems with a condi-

tion titled Foaming Bark Rot that primarilyaffects trees 2 and 3 years old. This conditionis more prevalent in Kern County and there isno way to treat it, although its severity variesfrom year to year. 2002 has been a moresevere year, but the condition doesn’t nor-mally kill its host tree, although tree deathdoes occur. Until this disorder is understood,there isn’t much a grower can do besidesaccept that it may occur and insure your treesare not under undue stress in their second andthird years.

There is also some misleading informa-tion about rootstock incompatibility that hasbeen recently reported. The reports of prob-lems with some Fukumoto groves are true,but what hasn’t been clearly presented is thevast number of Fukumoto groves that aredoing very well. There certainly is a need tostudy the problem, but some of the informa-tion that has been presented on this topiccan be considered “alarmist.” ContactTreeSource if you need more information onissues concerning Fukumotos.

What’s up with Fukumoto?

beautiful fruit and they can hold well intoSpring with Gib and 2,4-D. They even holdwell without treatment.

• Rush T.I. navels have surged in popularityrecently as growers are turning to a more tradi-tional early navel choice. It colors earlier thanZimmerman and takes gas very well, but inter-nal quality is similar to a traditional T.I.

• Fukumotos have the earliest harvest of themodern early navels and have a reputationfor quality fruit, high external color, and con-sistent size.

• Powell Summer Navel is still our top sellerfor late season navels and continues to impressus out in the young groves. The oldest grove

was planted in 1996.

• Chislett and Autumn Gold Summer Navelshave gained popularity in recent years as manygrowers choose to diversify their late navelproperties. The earliest plantings for these twowere 1998 or 1999.

• Barnfield Summer Navel is enjoying someinterest as well. It has groves that were devel-oped in 1994.

• Atwood navels have enjoyed a resurgence ofinterest as some growers are looking for a ver-satile mid-season navel that has predictableproduction and quality.

• On the horizon are some new navels that weare watching to see if they improve the world-class selections that we already have. Notableare: Palmer, Navelina, Navelate, Robyn,

Rhode, and Wiffen. So far, there is nothinginteresting to report.

Variety continued from page 1

Powell Navels

502 North Kaweah, Suite “B”Exeter, California 93221

PreSortStandardU.S.Postage

PAIDPermit #520Visalia, CA

NAVELS Autumn Gold Late/trifoliateBarnfield Late/trifoliateBeck Early/Carrizo,C-35Cara Cara Pink/Car, C-35, trif.Chislett Late/Carrizo, trif.Fisher/CarrizoFukumoto Early/Carrizo, Volk.Gillette/Carrizo, trif.Lane’s Late/Car., flying dragonParent Wash./Carrizo, C-35Powell Late/Carrizo, trif.Rush T.I. Early/Carrizo, C-35

Spring/trif. Zimmerman T.I./Carrizo

MANDARINSGold Nugget MandarinNules ClementineNour ClementineW. Murcott (Afourer)Okitsu-Wase SatsumaDobashi Beni SatsumaOwari SatsumaShasta Gold Seedless Mand.Tahoe Gold Seedless mand.Yosemite Gold Seedless

MISC.MelogoldOro BlancoMinneola TangeloMoro BloodTarocco BloodMeyer Lemon8A Lisbon LemonSeedless Lisbon Lemon YuzuCutter ValenciaOlinda Valencia

Available for 2003 Plantings

ALSO AVAILABLE: ROOTSTOCK SEEDLINGS ROOTSTOCK SEED Registered Budwood

Call Roger Smith at 559-804-6176 or Joelle Morris at 559-592-2304 for availability of trees and rootstock combinations.

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Available for 2003 Plantings

Field DayThursday, December 12, 2002

12:30 pm. to 4:00 pmMANDARIN FRUIT DISPLAYS, TREE VIEWING,

CLEMENTINE VARIETY TRIAL VISIT, DISCUSSIONMeet at TreeSource Growing Grounds1/2 mile North of Ave. 344 on Rd. 192,

about 3 miles West of Woodlake. See signs.

Bus departing TreeSource at 12:45 for field visits – don’t be late!!

Field DayField DayM A N D A R I N MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

DEC 12, 2002 Mandarin Field day

FEB 11-13, 2003 World Ag Expo (see us in Pavilion A #1073)

MAY 15, 2003 Late Navel Field Day

It’s time to start planning for 2004. Call Roger Smith for free consultation

at (559) 804-6176

Get your replant orders in early!! Call Joelle at (559) 592-2304

to place an order.

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