California is the only important olive-growing state in the U.S., with Tulare County as its leading producer. Production statewide remains fairly stable at around 40,000 acres planted for extra virgin oil, with one of those growers being the current president of the California Farm Bureau Federation.
Jamie Johansson runs Lodestar Farms in Oroville, which bills itself as the oldest family olive oil farm in the Sacramento Valley that has grown from an initial 20 acres in 1993 to 80 current acres. By definition, a lode star is one that leads or shows the way. It’s taken awhile to earn that accolade.
Oroville has the distinction of over 120 years of farming quality extra virgin olive oil --- it’s called the birthplace of commercial California olive production --- noted for its distinct flavor.
“I was a bit naïve some 25 years ago, but I quickly learned that you couldn’t make a go of it by just having a small amount of acreage selling to a processor,” Johansson said as a former behind-the-scenes farmer providing olives and olive oil for 10 other companies. “This was in the 1990s when imports were really starting to impact price and contracts were getting cancelled.”
DIVERSE BACKGROUND
Johansson has a diverse background in agriculture, enjoying his time chasing cows and repairing fences, but as the olive oil industry started to grow, he jumped on that bandwagon with the idea.
“You gotta focus on what will make you money,” he said.
At that time, a gallon jug of European import went for $15 while locally-produced product marketed out at $75 a gallon.