Opportunity for annuals

Issue Date: May 7, 2008

Workers make at least 35 passes through Santa Cruz County fields during harvest season to select artichokes at just the right stage of maturity.

Artichokes becoming a year-round crop in California

By Ron Miller

Castroville remains the center of artichoke production in California. But, the plants in the surrounding fields are changing. In the 2003-2004 growing season, perennial plants outnumbered annual plants by about 2-1. By the 2006-2007 season, that had reversed to a 2-1 margin for annual plants, according to figures from the California Artichoke Advisory Board.

Reasons for the change are many.

"One of the advantages of the annual plants is they reduce pest pressure. By using them in a farmer's crop rotation, pests that attack artichokes are eliminated when the new crop is planted," said Dale Huss, vice president of operations of Ocean Mist Farms. Growers also derive year-round income with annuals.

Huss said the goal of his company is to have product available for retailers all year. To do this, they rotate production from the Castroville region to Oxnard, then to the Coachella Valley and then back to Castroville. Artichokes come from the Coachella Valley mostly in winter. The development of annual plants has also helped achieve this goal. Consumers can find artichokes on produce displays in retail stores all year, barring weather problems in growing regions.

The annual plants are raised in nurseries and transplanted. They are picked from 10 to 16 times in a season. The perennial plants are harvested 30 to 35 times. Because not all the artichokes mature at the same time, they must be hand harvested. Workers need to be able to judge when the artichoke is ready to be picked, making it unlikely that any machine could be developed to do harvesting.

Huss said artichoke prices have been good this season. However, farmers have faced challenges caused by cold weather. There have been more "frost kissed" artichokes than average. In addition the colder temperatures slow the growth of the chokes, which at times has limited supplies. Labor availability has not been a problem. Many who work in artichoke fields work all year.

Michael Scattini is an artichoke farmer who now grows more annual artichokes than perennials. He said the annual varieties are less expensive to grow.

"The there is slightly less meat on some annual varieties and some consumers say the stems are woody," Scattini said. But most grocery managers think an artichoke is an artichoke.

Part of the problem with woody stems on the annual varieties may be caused by workers being unfamiliar with the annual variety. Huss said the annual varieties look different when they are ripe, and perhaps the pickers allow them to ripen too long. But, farmers and researchers are working to resolve the problem.

Ocean Mist's research and development team is always working on developing a better artichoke variety, Huss said. The present annuals are an improvement over the first varieties. Although some people can't tell the taste difference in artichoke varieties, he said his daughter can. She's grown up with artichokes and can taste the difference between varieties and correctly identifies which she is eating.

Huss said he believes there will always be fields planted in perennial artichokes. The market demands the traditional spring flush as many consumers want artichokes for the Easter holiday. Perennial fields last for 10 years or more, and some have been producing artichokes for 22 years or more. It all depends on the soil type as to how long the plants last. Many farmers still prefer the green globe variety, a perennial.

Artichokes are high in antioxidants and are a healthful food. Ocean Mist has both nutrient information and preparation suggestions on their Web site, www.oceanmist.com. Marketing plans call for that information to be presented in various ways to consumers. There remain many potential consumers in the Midwest who are not yet acquainted with artichokes.

Acreage planted in artichokes has remained fairly constant. The crop takes special knowledge to grow. Demand is increasing slowly. Production dropped slightly in 2006, the most recent year for which final numbers are available. Artichokes slipped from 57 to 58 on the list of California commodities. Monterey County remains the leading artichoke producer.

Much of the processing part of artichoke production has moved offshore. A Spanish firm bought the Cara Mia brand a few years ago and now produces the artichokes hearts sold under that brand name in Spain. Consumers recognizing that brand name may not realize the contents of the jar came from Spain or another country.

(Ron Miller is a reporter for Ag Alert. He may be contacted at rmiller@cfbf.com.)

Permission for use is granted, however, credit must be made to the California Farm Bureau Federation when reprinting this item. Top