Harvest is nearing the halfway point, with mid-season varieties Flavorcrest and Rich Lady making up the bulk of the current harvest. Peach quality to date is good with medium sized fruit. The 1997 California Clingstone peach crop is forecast at 550 thousand tons, up 1 percent from last year's crop and unchanged from the June 1997 estimate. The yield is 17.7 tons per acre. Harvest is just beginning with about 3.00 thousand tons or 0.5 percent harvested to date.
Quality is very good with some smaller sizes being reported.
Off grades are running below last year's rate. Bearing acreage is estimated at 170 thousand acres. The crop is expected to be larger than last year due to increased Hartley production. Lower blight occurrence and less droppage should result in a cleaner crop with above average quality. The 1996-97 California Navel orange forecast is 86.0 million cartons, unchanged from April, but up 13 percent from last season.