Calif farmers, signed 20 yr contracts to grow peaches, face huge losses as Del Monte shuts down

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Calif. cannery bankruptcy leaves hundreds laid off and $550M in farm losses

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/del-monte-modesto-plant-closure-21953566.php

California peach farmers are expected to take a multimillion-dollar financial hit and lose vast quantities of crops after Del Monte Foods plans to permanently close two state plants.


Del Monte-owned plants in Modesto and Hughson will permanently close and leave hundreds of workers unemployed by April 7, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification that was filed earlier and obtained by SFGATE. Hundreds of employees will lose their jobs, including 571 general laborers at the Modesto plant alone.


But the California farmers who grow fruit for the factory are also taking a financial blow. Farmers in the Central Valley, as well as Yuba and Sutter counties, face a $550 million revenue loss from 20-year contracts to grow peaches with Del Monte, according to the Sacramento Bee. Many farmers haven’t made substantial profits from the orchards that Del Monte asked them to plant just a few years ago. Now, about 75,000 tons of peaches will likely go to waste, the outlet added.

“Two-thirds of the growers are going to be, basically, just left out to dry,” Sarb Johl, a farmer in Yuba County, told the Sacramento Bee.

Like many farmers, Johl signed a 20-year contract with Del Monte to grow peaches at his Yuba County farm. According to the outlet, Johl still had 10 years left on his contract but plans to remove his 9-year-old peach trees instead.