The 2000 crop, at 427,396 tons, was one of the biggest in the history of California and a 43 percent jump over 1999. The Raisin Administrative Committee (RAC), the panel that oversees the inventory and flow of raisins under a Federal Raisin Marketing Order, says there is only a market for 233,344 tons of raisins. The capitalist companies that control the packing and marketing of raisins are trying to turn the bountiful crop against the growers, setting a price far below the cost of production because of "oversupply."

At a meeting of the RAC January 12, the panel approved a "free tonnage" of 53 percent of the crop to go on the market for sale this year, with the rest being set aside in a reserve. The growers only get paid for the free tonnage. The RAC also voted for a diversion program of 155,000 tons. This was supported by the growers while the packers favored a much smaller amount. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) decided February 5 to set the diversion program at 96,532 tons to reduce the next crop. Growers who participate in the program prune or remove their vines to slash production.

Many of the approximately 5,000 farmers in the region have applied to participate in this program, including 118 for vine removal and 1,415 for aborting the crop, while leaving vines in the ground.

Walter Shubin, a second-generation farmer with 85 acres, said he is participating in the program, pruning his vines so they don't bear any fruit this year. "During the Savings and Loan fiasco, they were bailed out with $500 billion," he said. "Now with the power crisis situation, we pay a lot to the power company, PG&E. If we can bail out big corporations, why can't we bail out family farmers?" he added.

Mike Jerkovitch, a third-generation farmer, is not part of the diversion program but he decided that it was better for him to prune his vines and not produce any raisins this year. "To cultivate 100 acres of raisins," he explained, "you spend around $140,000. With what we will get from the packers, which would probably be around $500 a ton or $45,000 for a hundred acres, I am losing money. This affects the community," he said. "I told the workers who work for me that after the pruning there won't be any work. It also affects the parts sellers. It affects the stores. Since we don't have money, we are not spending. There are many "for sale" signs, some farmers are going bankrupt, and some are having their land taken away," he added.

The packers are in no hurry to resolve this problem. Enough raisins have been released to them to meet current market demands, Jerkovitch explained. And the companies are only paying $300 a ton to the growers for the raisins until the deadlock is resolved.

George Flagler, who owns 500 acres and has been growing raisins since 1965, will be harvesting this year, but the rising cost of energy is affecting him. "We need energy to pump water," he said. "Then the cost of diesel has doubled or tripled, and they say that the cost of fertilizer will double this year. Many of the farmers here are selling and two of my neighbors are facing foreclosure," he added.

"It would be like if workers were working for free and didn't get paid for five months, going on six months," said Shubin, "What would happen? They would be evicted from their homes."
 
 
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