Harvest Highlights: Peak Avocado Season, A Ventura County Bounty

Santa Paula Avocado Harvest

Mid-April marked the peak of our picking season, with California avocados boasting an impressive yield of over 2 million pounds per day! While we're experiencing a bit of a glut, it's all part of the plan as we gear up for Cinco de Mayo celebrations. Our ranch has been abuzz with activity, with our team diligently averaging about 10 bins per workday since mid-March. Thanks to the plentiful rains of 2022 and early 2023, we're enjoying a bumper crop this season.

Our team diligently averaging about 10 bins per workday (March - April)

Ventura County seems to be nature's favorite this season, as many farmers to our north are facing a shortage of fruit due to unfavorable weather conditions last winter/spring. We're grateful to be situated in such a fruitful region, reaping the benefits of ideal growing conditions.

Santa Paula Avocado Harvest

We contract with our packing house to provide the labor for the picking. The pickers use ladders, picking poles and sometimes both are needed to reach the top of the trees. They wear special picking bags, when full weight up to 80 lbs! The bottom of the bag is designed to open into one of the bins, which have been strategically placed in the orchard. The modified Jeep, forklift on the back, then stages the bins for the semi truck to pick up at the end of the day. The fruit goes from tree to packing house in a few hours.

Our modified Jeep with forklift on the back,