The California Prunes Difference: our Exceptional Growers

California's been growing prunes for over a  hundred years, so there's a very rich history.   Nestled between the Feather River and the Yuba  rivers are some of California's most venerable   prune orchards. These elements have created a  perfect environment for growing prunes where   water runoff feeds reservoirs and the rivers  provide service water. My family's been farming   in Winters since 1957 when my parents came here  and purchased their first property which was 40   acres of newly planted prune trees. We've got  some unique conditions that allow us to produce   wonderful quality fruit . My name is Ranvir Singh  we are at the Feather River Farms location in   Marysville. California. My drive is if I'm going  to do something I do it the best of my ability.   We grew from 16 acres to 700 Acres. We now farm  in four different counties - Yuba, Sutter Yolo,   and down in Merced. You get a lot of satisfaction  out of raising really high quality crops a lot of   it is through self-regulation that we have good  commodity boards and commissions and we all work   together to make everything better and I think  it's unique to California that we do that. We all   do it because we want to make the business better.  California Agriculture is huge. We grow things   here that can't be grown in other parts of the  United States and for that matter in other parts   of the world. You can be assured that it is high  quality and it's the best that you're going to   find out there. California soil is a very nutrient  rich, it's got almost everything you need to grow   specialty crops and also the accountability  of safe food practices - and that's a major   component not only in the United States but also  worldwide. We growth the safest food possible   and accountability and traceability so it really  protects the consumer there's no hidden agendas.   My name is Sarah Castro and I run the prune  breeding program at the University of California   Davis and the California prune industry makes a  substantial investment in production research.   Here in this Orchard we have over a hundred  different selections as we not only look at the   fruit attributes but we look at the overall tree  attributes as well. It's much more sustainable for   the industry because it takes less energy to dry  these prunes and also you're wasting less carbon   by not pruning your trees as much. The breeding  program is the future of the industry with new   flavors, new methods of growing and new abilities  to save money and the prune industry is doing that   for the California Growers. How do we grow more  per acre right to take down the cost per acre   of farming and then what types of varieties can we  come out with that work better and give the grower   a better returns. Varieties that may be harvested  a little bit earlier later to help with labor and   then the actual product itself anything we can do  to help the grow reduce the cost for them to get   it in a finished form is really valuable. You know  we're very conscientious of our safety and our   quality being a tunnel dried prune we have real  consistency we bring to our production and process   of the prunes and we're just very focused on the  quality. California does this consistently. In   my definition of sustainability is being efficient  so it's minimizing waste and minimizing the inputs   that you put into the the crop and maximizing  the product that comes out. You know we're very   efficient with our water we don't waste any water  it's and the result is a happy tree which produces   big tasty sweet prunes. You could say it's the  soil or the sunshine or the high food safety   standards that California has that I think at the  end of the day it comes down to passion and it's   growers who live and love to farm and they're just  so passionate about creating a quality product.   What makes me proud about being a California  grower is that we have the highest standards in   the world and I think that we grow the safest and  the best products here in California. That matters   to me because I feel like we're we're sending  a message to the world that we are the best and   we have the best product here. That farmers  are environmentalists deep down. We want to   keep our land healthy for our you know children,  next generation. We want to be able to go out on   the property and feel that it's healthy and safe  you know that's something we take seriously as a   farmer. California farming is multi-generational  be it my farm or other farms but we all strive to   preserve it for the next generation and we want  to hopefully pass this down to our children that   they will follow suit too and be as sustainable  and do all the right things with our Earth.

Channel: California Prunes

Views: 1,219

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Id: UNkjkNOWbl8

Length: 5min 0sec (300 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 30 2023