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Recession catches up to ag - Citrus, wine feel global slowdown |
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Written by Henry Dubroff
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Sunday, 28 June 2009 |
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 If life gives you lemons, sell them and be glad you didn’t get high-end wine grapes.
That’s the takeaway from recent updates from tri-county agriculture veterans and experts. Lemon prices will probably be down this year, and high temperatures mean the third paltry California avocado crop in a row. But with wine consumers trading down to cheaper bottles, it could be 15 years before startup vineyards turn a profit.
At the Limoneira Co.’s annual summer picnic in Santa Paula on June 22, Chief Executive Officer Harold Edwards said 2008 was the firm’s best year for lemon profits in the past 150 years because of a supply shortage that didn’t affect Limoneira. But this year, trees have recovered and prices will fall, Edwards said.
On top of that, broiling temperatures reduced the firm’s avocado crop this year to 150 million pounds, compared to 300 million pounds in a normal year.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 29 June 2009 )
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During the past 15 years, a tool and hardware distributor in Camarillo called Central Purchasing exploded into one of the largest private companies in the Tri-Counties as it exploited new sales channels online, in broadcast media and at 300 retail stores..jpg)
In what may be the largest lease deal in the Tri-Counties to date this year, Dynacorn International leased 98,952 square feet of industrial space at 4030 Via Pescador in Camarillo. The seven-year lease is valued at more than $3.8 million, according to NAI Capital’s Ventura County office, which represented the lessee.
