FALLBROOK, Calif. — Brown leaves, dried branches and barely any avocados are what's left on Stewart’s Avocado Farms in Fallbrook. It's a different scene from what was there last year.
Stewart’s 2023 crop that’ll be harvested in 2024 is almost non-existent due to the colder weather throughout San Diego County. It's a big change from what he’s been used to.
“Last year we had 250,000 pounds of fruit and this year we’d be lucky to get 10,000 pounds,” Stewart’s Avocado Farms owner Harold Stewart said.
Last year's harvest was a good one for Stewart. He was hopeful this time around it would be the same. But the bloom required to produce the fruit never came.
“Fallbrook used to be the capital of avocados and that is no longer the case, we’ve lost extreme amount of farms due to weather conditions, water costs, energy costs,” Stewart said.
San Diego's recent spell of cold weather isn't the only thing that is affecting his bottom line. Other outside factors have also affected his business.
“Unfortunately the profits weren't up because we had a lot of imports so what should've been a good year profit wise was not it was a great year for harvest but not for profit,” Stewart said.
With the unstable weather California has experienced, it's created a financial loss in business too.
“If you do the math and let's say you plan on having you know a large crop of 400,000 pounds, you know it's into the hundred and thousands of dollars that were losing,” Stewart said.
The cold temperature has affected both fruit and citrus growers in California, making it difficult for farmers to stay in business.
Harold says it affects how farmers operate.
“It's getting very difficult to keep that up as a you know, almost like a hobby now, its even really a viable business at this point,” Stewart said.
Stewart has a full time job outside of being a farmer and he plans to keep that. He recommends other farmers struggling to visit the San Diego County Farm Bureau.
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