Oneonta Increases Organic Stone Fruit Program in 2017

After an uncommonly cool spring, the Pacific Northwest is experiencing a later stone fruit season this year. But officials at Oneonta Starr Ranch Growers say harvest is bringing both great quality and increased volume, particularly in organics. The Wenatchee, Wash.-based grower-shipper expects the season’s volumes to be up 20-30 percent over last year with harvest starting around June 20 for organic and conventional apricots.

Grown in the Yakima region, apricots, nectarines, peaches, pluots and Italian prunes from Oneonta Starr Ranch Growers will meet late season demand as other areas wind down. This year’s chilly spring set the stone fruit bloom back two to three weeks compared to 2016, but the overall crop is maturing beautifully and abundantly, according to Scott Marboe, marketing director, Oneonta Starr Ranch Growers.

“We are expecting volume increases of 20 to 30 percent, especially on our apricots,” Marboe says. The apricots will ship through mid-August, and peak promotion time will fall during the first three weeks of July. The company is packing the fruit in its increasingly popular pouch bags.

Bruce Turner, national marketing representative for Oneonta Starr Ranch Growers, notes that organic apricots have made significant gains in popularity, and OSRG is both planting new trees and converting existing acreage to organic.

 “Most of the new organic apricots are the Robada variety,” says Bruce Turner, national marketing representative, Oneonta Starr Ranch Growers. “Our warm days and cool nights produce great eating stone fruit with exceptional color. It really is the best eating fruit available.”

“The organic apricots are packed in the Starr Ranch Organics label and high color varieties will packed in the Gourmet label,” Turner says. “The Gourmet program was brought back due to the high demand from last year. Only the best color and best flavor is packed in this label, and consumers can’t get enough of them!”

Peach harvest is expected to begin around July 20, and the season will go to the end of August. Organic peaches will start Aug. 5, Turner says. Peak promotion time for the fruit will be the middle weeks of August.

Both organic and conventional nectarines are expected to start July 25, and they will ship through the end of August. Turner says best promotion time for nectarines will be the first three weeks of July, and that a new organic white nectarine has been added to the mix this year. That variety will start Aug. 20 and finish the first week of September.

Conventional Italian fresh prunes will start the first week of August and finish the end of the month, and the last stone fruit item to ship from the company will be an organic pluot. The Flavor Grenade variety will start Sept. 1 and run for two weeks.