Grape harvest could mean dollars or doom

PROSSER, Benton County — An increasing number of acres may be devoted to wine grapes in Washington state, but plenty of farmers still grow grapes for juice and concentrate — and they could be looking at an extra-large harvest this year.

Growers don't yet know if that spells dollars or doom. So far, they aren't pleased.

The first of the few processors in the area sent out notice earlier this week about what growers will be paid for their Concord grapes: $100 per ton. That's down slightly from $105 per ton last year, and a sharp decline from the $200-plus per ton farmers were getting for their Concord crops several years ago.

"It's just a terrible strain, what's happening to our grape industry. A lot of people I've talked to are just getting out," said Al Sorensen, a 30-year farmer who's grown everything from mint to asparagus in the lower Yakima Valley.

Getting out has crossed his mind, too. For now, though, Sorensen said, "I'm just thinking about cutting back."

Washington state produces about half of the nation's Concord grapes, which are used for beverages and puree concentrates for jams and jellies. Growers and processors alike have struggled in recent years due to increasing competition, both from other grapes and new products.

"Our competition is whatever is on the shelf," said Mike Concienne, manager of the National Grape Cooperative, a division of Welch's based in Grandview, Yakima County. "You're competing against any other juice or beverage that people would buy."

This year, growers nationally expect to harvest an estimated 489,000 tons, which would top the record 479,310-ton crop in 1999. The state's harvest has been forecast at about 250,000 tons — not a record, but a far cry from the dismal crop of last year.

A heavy freeze the previous winter damaged vines and reduced the average crop size last year from between 8 tons and 10 tons per acre to just 3 tons for some growers.

Paul Kilian, another Yakima Valley grower, expects to harvest between 15 tons and 18 tons per acre this year. He'll start harvesting Concord grapes next week, after the Niagara-grape harvest wraps up.

"That's what I'm hearing from other people around, too. Their yields are more than they even anticipated, and we knew it was going to be a pretty good year," he said.

Kilian sells his grapes through the National Grape Cooperative, which he said has had better returns for growers than the cash market in recent years. At the same time, he said, farmers who sell through a cooperative have to be willing to wait for their money.

"It takes a couple of years to finally get all your money. When you're in the co-op, like anything, for generations it's not a big deal because you're in the cycle. For new guys, it takes a few years," he said.

Sorensen sells about a third of his crop through the co-op, which he called a "savior" in recent years for farmers dinged by poor cash prices. He cringed when he received the $100 per ton notice earlier this week from processor Milne Fruit Products, a subsidiary of Wyckoff Farms Inc. that has more than 100 growers under contract.

Randy Hageman, president and general manager of Milne, called it a simple matter of supply and demand.

Red grapes from California and foreign products have replaced the demand for Concord grapes in recent years, suppressing prices. That has begun to rebound, he said, but an oversupply of Concord grapes doesn't help.

"We think there's about 380,000 tons of demand nationally. So we've got this 109,000-ton problem," he said, adding a large crop means reduced sugar content in the grapes — and higher costs for processors.

Farmers will see higher returns by several hundred dollars per acre this year as a result of the large crop, he said. And processors are hoping that rising prices for red grapes out of California will boost demand for Concord grapes.

"We think that very soon, you'll see Concord being put back into some of the beverage formulas," Hageman said. "It's just a matter of time."