Can California Peach Farmers Just Grow Something Else?

Barriers to Crop Shifting

If China won’t buy our soybeans and Brazil out paces us on corn, why don’t American farmers just grow something different?  It’s a question stemming from genuine curiosity on the part of  Americans trying to make sense of the pressurized agricultural system in the U.S.  If farmers are struggling to secure buyers for their existing harvests, why are they planting the same thing again?  

The truth is, crop shifting is a process that appears straight forward to the average American, but is in fact, quite complex.  The California peach crisis demonstrates how challenging it can be for a farm to change their crops and why it might require increased government intervention if the U.S. desires to move in the direction of food sovereignty.

What Will California Peach Growers Do Without Del Monte?

California peach growers lost a crucial buyer when Del Monte declared bankruptcy and shut down processing plants earlier in the year.  It was a devastating blow to farmers who had contracts with the company that stretched decades into the future.  An estimated $550 million in revenue could be lost this year due to the lack of sufficient processing capacity and resulting oversupply.

In response, the USDA created an aid package valuing $9 million to assist farmers in the removal of orchards. Without local processing facilities and facing the pressure of low water levels and increased input expenses, growers are taking advantage of the opportunity to move one expense off the table as they consider transitioning to more sustainable and high demand crops.

California’s peach farmers are expected to swap orchards for nut production or row crops like tomatoes, lettuce and other produce, a process that would be long and slow if operators had to take multi year revenue losses while simultaneously investing in new seeds, equipment and learning.  Existing supply chains could make it simple for farmers to plug into the established systems and find buyers for their new crops.  With some 420,000 clingstone peach trees set for removal over 3,000 acres, there's room to consider expanding commodity crops or the feasibility of developing non- commodity crops that could support food sovereignty in the U.S.

Can the U.S. Achieve Food Sovereignty?

Given our landmass and climate, the United States could produce most of what we use.  In terms of specifically meeting food needs, U.S. farms could grow enough to meet the food demands of the domestic population. We might find fewer tropical fruits on grocery store shelves and there would be a necessary shift in the direction of seasonal food availability, but it is possible. Essentially, we’d swap variety for domestic production.

The reason this hasn’t happened yet is partly because it is cheaper to get certain foods from other countries that have lower input costs.  But, it is also because food sovereignty would require a re-alignment of agricultural land as well as value chains.  

Making a crop change means dismantling an old infrastructure and building a new one. Often these endeavors are lacking risk management strategies but are abundant in expenses. U.S. farmers have approached cautiously.  Farmers are more inclined to take an immediate revenue loss and wait out market shifts than to take on new and unvetted expenses that come with growing a different crop.  However, that doesn’t mean it is impossible for farmers to make a switch.

The type of aid the USDA is providing California peach growers might be the way forward for U.S. agriculture.  Funding the removal of peach trees will allow families to keep farms.  With their buyer suddenly gone, farmers are left with trees still requiring inputs to survive, but producing fruit that could not be sold. Removing them removes expenses.  Whether these farms go on to produce something different or not, their owners are free from the expenses and the land itself is in a position to be put into production rather than deplete resources unnecessarily.

Will USDA Funding Support Food Sovereignty in the U.S.?

Orchards represent an altogether different type of food production than row crops like corn and soybeans where ground is regularly tilled.  However, the role of the USDA is to intervene when situations like the Del Monte bankruptcy threaten widespread harm.  In the last year the USDA has funded the Milk Loss Program which compensated dairy farmers during natural disasters that forced the dumping supply, the On Farm Stored Commodity Loss Program to compensate farmers for stored harvests lost to natural disasters, and the Tree Assistance Program that works to remove unproductive bushes and trees from agricultural land and take the financial burden off of farm owners.

These programs work to maintain economic momentum and allow farmers to and ranchers to keep producing.  However, they don’t do what the peach tree aid package is doing by removing a barrier to enter a whole new commodity market.  Currently, grain farmers can find assistance if they choose to build organic or regenerative systems.  And, the Assistance For Specialty Crops program offers microloans that can help a farm diversify.  But, there are a lot of steps to be taken if a farmer wants to stop growing one crop and start growing another; steps that can include purchasing new farm equipment, soil testing and learning and executing effective pest management strategies, not to mention marketing new crops to potential buyers.

According to farm transition experts, farmers don’t choose what to plant by selecting the most profitable crop. Instead, their choices have more to do with farm survival and decisions are tightly tied to the existing agricultural ecosystem. Corn and soybean farmers benefit from long standing policy structures that tend to reward established crops over new endeavors.  California peach farmers were secure for a long time thanks to the ecosystem developed around Del Monte.  It's risky to grow a crop without local processing facilities or buyers, and it can be tough to secure capital from lenders who are unfamiliar with a new crop's profitability metrics.

In California, the ecosystem for peaches crumbled.  The only way for the land and the farm families to tie back into an ecosystem is to grow a crop that can be processed nearby and has a ready buyer.  The USDA aid package gives these farms their first step at plugging back into an agricultural system. Numerous programs exist to help farms diversify for any combination of profitability, sustainability and food sovereignty goals. But, building out diversified ecosystems could take more USDA intervention that influences everything from policy to the physical infrastructure, to the removal and planting of crops that build resilient and domestically self-sufficient agricultural supply chains in the U.S.