# Sa n J o a qu i n Val l ey A gr i c u l t ur e

V i e w of S an J o a qu i n V a l l ey La rge f i e l d of h o t c a ps T omat o f i e ld

F re s h tomat o ha rv e s t u si ng gondo l as M e c han i c a l ha rv e s t of p ro c e s si ng t o mato P r o c e ssi ng tom a to i n s p e c t i on
s t at i on

Lettu c e f i e ld L e ttu c e ha r v e st C a r rot ha r v e st

C a r rot ha rv e st P e s t i ci de app lic at i o n of ga r l ic S t raw b e r ry ha rv e st 

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# P a g e 1 o f 3 S an Jo a qu i n v a l l ey

10 / 16 / 2015 htt p :// v r i c .u c d av i s. e du/v i rtu a l

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### S an Joaqu i

n V a lle y O ve rv iew

S a n J o a qu i n V a l ley T h e S an J oaqu i n V a ll e y i s the m o s t p r o du c t i v e ag r i c u l tu ra l r e g i o n i n t he wo r l d, c u l t i v at i ng m o r e t h an 250

c rop s.

H o t C a ps T o he l p p r e v en t

ea r lyp l ant i ng s of w a r m -s ea s on v egetab l e s s u c h a s c u c umbe rs , z u c c h i n i s q ua s h, and f re s h tomat o e s f r om f r o s t da m age, i nd iv i d u a l p l an t s o f s m a l l a cr eage p l ant i ng s a re c o v e r e d w i th "hot " c a p s m ade f r o m wa x

pa p e r

. T he c ap h a s t

wofo l d pu r po s e: f i rs t i n ra i s i ng t h e da y t i me te m pe r a t u r e t o get a fa s te r g rowth

r e s po n s e a nd s e c ond fo r s ome f ro s t p r o te c t i o n due to t h e heat i t reta i n s . It ha s bee n e s t i m ated tha t the c ap g i v e s an add i t i o n a l 2 o F of p rote c t i on to th e p l a nt g row i ng und e r nea t h.

T om a t o es A pp r o x i ma t e l y15, 0 00 a c r e s of f r e s h to m atoe s and 110,000 a c re s of p ro c e s si ng to m atoe s a re g rown
annua ll y i n t h e s outhe r n S an J oaqu i n V a ll e y

. F re s no C ount y l ead s the s tate i n t o matto p rodu c t i on. T omat o
c u l tu re is s i m il a r f

o r f re s h and p r o c e ss ed tom a toe s , a l though v a r i e t i e s a n d ha r v e s t p ra c t i c e s a re d is t i n c t ly d i ffe r e n t.

G o n d o la o f G r ee n T o m a t o es F re s h tom a to ha r

v e s t c o m men c e s i n ea r ly J une an d c o n t i n u e s th r o u gh No v e m be r

. F re s h tomat o e s a r e hand h a r a v e s ted at a matu re g reen s tage

, t r an s po r ted t o a pa ck i n g s h ed wh e r e th e y a r e w a s hed, s o r ted, g r a d ed, bo x ed a nd e x po s ed to e t h y l ene ( a n a tu r a l r i p e n i n g ho r mone fo u nd i n man yf r u i t s s u c h a s to m ato ) to p r o vi de u n i fo r m r i p en i ng c ond i t i o n s.

Pr o ce s si n g T o m a t o H a r vest P r o c e ss i n g tomat o e s a r e m a c h i n e ha rv e s ted w hen t h e y a r e red r i p e and t r u c k e d to the p r o c e ss i n g p l a nt i n l a r ge t r u ck s a nd t r a i l e rs.

C D F A I n s p ec t i o n S t a t i on E v e ryt r u c kl oad of tomato e s is s amp l ed an d i n s pe c ted p r i o r to p ro c e s si ng b ythe C a l i f o r n i a D e pa rt m ent of F o o d and A g r i c u l tu re ( CD F A ) to i n s u r e a s ta n da r d of toma t o qua l i ty f o r th e s t a te.

L e t t u ce F ield Lettu c e is g r o w n y ea r r o u nd i n Ca li fo r n i a a n d a c c o unt s fo r 20 % of the to t a l v a l ue of v e g etab l e p rodu c t i o n. T h e S an J oaqu i n V a ll e y i s a m a j o r l ettu c e s upp li e r

tw o s ea s on s pe r y e a r . I c eb e r g a n d s pe c i a l t y l ettu c e s a r e p l anted i n m i d s um m e r

fo r a l ate fa l l ha rv e s t

and p l anted i n l ate f

a l l fo r a m i d s p r i n g ha rv e s t.

L e t t u ce H a r

vest S k il l e d l a bo r cr ew s t ra v e l t o p r o du c t i o n a r e a s a roun d the s tate w i t h s o ph i s t ic ated ha rv e s t a i d and p a c ki ng equ i pmen t

to ma i nta i n eff ici en c y i n th e h i g h l y c om p et i t iv e l ettu c e i ndu s t r y.

Ca rr o t H a r

vest Ca li fo r n i a is the m a

j o r s upp li e r

of c a r r o t s fo r

t h e U S , a n d K e r n Count y i n th e S an J oaqu i n V a ll e y is the m a j o r p r o d u c e r i n C a l i fo r n i a. G r ee n

- top b un c h c a r rot s a r e e x t r e m e l yf i e l d l abo r i nt e n s iv e at h a rv e s t, w h e r ea s c e ll o and v a l ue

- added c a r r ot p a c ks requ i r e l abo r and m a c h i n e ry i n a p ro c e s si ng fa cil i t y.

P es t i ci d e A p p lic a t i o n of G a r lic F ield G a r li c ( p i c t u r ed he r e ) , on i on s , m e l o n s , p eppe rs a nd b ro c c o li a r e s o m e of th e othe r v e getab l e s w i th

s u b s t ant i a l a c reage a nd p rodu c t i o n v a l u e i n the S an J oaq u i n V a l l e y . Co m me r c i a l f i e l d s a r e ra r e l y l e s s t han 40 a c r e s i n si z e , t y p i c a ll y a v e rag i ng 80 a c re s , and i n ra r e i n s ta n c e s , a r e a s m u c h a s 640 a c r e s p l ant e d to a

s i ng l e c om m od i t y.

S t r a wb e rr

y Ha r v e s t a nd Y o u n g C o r n F i e ld A l s o p re v a l ent i n the S a n J o aqu i n V a l l e y is the s ma ll

- sc a l e v e getab l e and/ o r s t rawbe r ryg row e r

. Twe n t ya c r e p a r c e l s a r e o f

ten s ubd iv i de d among p r od u c e rs fo r the c u l t i v at i on of m i sc e l l a neou s v egetab l e s , s u c h a s
s w eet c o r n, c he r rytoma t oe s , eggp l ant, s u m me r and w i nte r s qua s h s , a si an v egetab l e s and h e r b s. 

# P a g e 2 o f 3 S an Jo a qu i n v a l l ey

10 / 16 / 2015 htt p :// v r i c .u c d av i s. e du/v i rtu a l

_t our / s an j oq.h tmD i v i s i o n o f Ag r i c u l t u r e an d Na t u r a l Re s o u rc e s , Un i v e rs i t y o f Ca li f o r n i a

. A ll c o n t e n t s
c o p yr i g h t © 2 0 1 1 T h e R e g e n t s o f t h e U ni v e rs i t y o f Ca li f o r n i a

. A l l R i g h t s R e s e rv e d

. De v e l o p m e n t f u n d i n g f r o m t h e Un i v e rs i t y o f Ca li f o r n i a a nd U S D A

, C S R EE S. P l e a s e e -m a i l y o u r c o m m e n t s t o :
v r i c @ u c d a v i s

. e du L a s t u p d a t e d : De c e m be r 1 6

, 2 0 1 4 | W e b s i t e d e s i g n b y L a u r i B r a n d e b e rry 

# P a g e 3 o f 3 S an Jo a qu i n v a l l ey

10 / 16 / 2015 htt p :// v r i c .u c d av i s. e du/v i rtu a l

_t our / s an j oq.h tm