Just as the harvest of a nearly 2.2 billion-pound fresh grape crop is in high gear, the California Table Grape Commission is celebrating its 50^th anniversary as a grower-funded commodity group.

California Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary Karen Ross recently presented the organization with a resolution commemorating its half-century of service to the state and its residents.

Among other things, the resolution noted that “since its first meeting in 1968, the commission has served the public interest by providing the leadership, promotion, and research needed to turn a small, struggling industry into a mainstay of the state’s agricultural economy.”

California Secretary of Food and Agriculture Karen Ross, left, talks with Brian Kuehl, executive director of Farmers for Free Trade, during a media event earlier this year. Ross honored the California Table Grape Commission for its 50th anniversary.

Further, she noted that “in remaining dedicated to its purpose of creating demand for the state’s fresh grape crop, the commission has fostered an environment that allowed a disparate group of small growers, producing 27 million boxes of fresh grapes for U.S. consumers only, to grow into an industry that ships approximately 110 million boxes to 60 countries with a crop value of $1.8 billion.”

As part of the celebration, Dominick Bianco of the Chowchilla, Calif.-based Anthony Vineyards was honored for his service on the first board of commissioners from 1968 to 1971, and for his continuous service since 1986, according to a news release. Marko B. Zaninovich of Sunview Vineyards at Delano, Calif., was recognized for service from 1971 to 1974, and then continuously since 1991.

MAINTAIN, EXPAND MARKETS

The California Table Grape Commission was established by an act of the state legislature in 1967. Approved by a grower referendum in 1968, it has been reauthorized by growers every five years since its inception. It is mainly funded by grower assessments of 11.5 cents for every 19 pounds of grapes.

The panel’s purpose is to maintain and expand markets for fresh California grapes and to create new and larger intrastate, interstate, and foreign markets, according to the organization’s website.

Two main initiatives for the commission are a grants program for schoolteachers in the prime growing areas of the San Joaquin and Coachella valleys, and a scholarship program for the children of farmworkers entering college. This year, 52 school grants of up to $750 apiece were handed out, totaling $39,000, and eight students beginning classes at universities and community colleges within the state shared portions of $127,000 in scholarships.

The recognition took place as the 2018 crop estimate was confirmed to be 114.6 million 19-pound boxes, according to the commission. The harvest began about two months ago, and is expected to provide a good volume of grapes well into the fall.

CHALLENGES REMAIN

Lots of challenges remain for the state’s fresh grape growers, commission president Kathleen Nave said earlier this year. Availability of labor and water, and labor costs were concerns going into the season, as well as weather, she said.

“Last season was not the easiest season. We had some high heat, and some extensive heat. There’s also a lot of concern about continuing to maintain their economic viability, as individual growers and as an industry, with increased competition both in the early part of the season and late part of the season.”

There are lots of positives, too, Nave says, including new varieties that interest consumers. Surveys show that about 95 percent of people like grapes, and about 75 percent of households purchase grapes frequently.

“Our job is to remind people what they already like,” she says.