Lodi's latest fruit

Ben Kolber of KG Vineyard Management holds up olives from a bin at Steve and Ray Coldani's olive farm on Thornton Road on Monday. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

Lodi's latest fruit

Grapes may always be king, but olive crops could hold steady second

By Marc Lutz
News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Tuesday, November 25, 2008 5:52 AM PST

Comments (6 comment(s))

A lumbering beast crawls along the ground in the olive orchards near Kingdon and Thornton roads, gobbling up the green-black fruit from hundreds of trees. The grape-sized olives are then spit into a large plastic bin to be transported to their final fate: olive oil.

It's olive harvesting time in Lodi, and for Ben Kolber and Kris Gutierrez, owners of KG Vineyard Management in Woodbridge, it's a true learning experience.

Kolber, who comes from a long line of farmers — with roots going back 50 years in Lodi agriculture — said that the machine collecting the bitter little fruit is a modified grape harvester. Curtains have been added to the area where the olives are pulled from the tree, and chutes are added onto the ends where the olives are dropped into the bins.

"Olives bounce more than grapes, so the chutes keep them from falling out," Kolber said while supervising a crew of about six men on Monday. With more and more growers dabbling in olive crops, Kolber says KG Vineyard Management is adapting the services they offer. Ninety-eight percent of the olives in the United States are imported, and 99 percent of olives grown in the nation are grown in California.

On one recent morning, Kolber and crew were harvesting 33 acres for Steve and Ray Coldani, who also grow a bevy of other crops such as alfalfa and bell peppers.

Each acre of olive trees will yield anywhere from three to five tons, and each ton will be used to make approximately 30 to 40 gallons of olive oil. Two tractors are put into use, creeping alongside the hefty harvester at 11/2 miles per hour, with four bins on their trailers. Each bin holds around 1,000 pounds of olives, and when the four bins are full, the tractor will take them away, the second tractor taking its place.

The majority of the Coldanis' olive crops are Arbequina olives, a Spanish variety. The Arbequina is the main olive grown in California and in Catalonia in northeast Spain. On the outer edges of the orchard are Koroneiki olives, a Greek variety that bears fruit in alternating years and is used to pollinate the Arbequinas.

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Though Kolber says they are used to the grape harvest, he sees the benefits in doing something new and using modern technology to do it. "We're learning to adjust the harvester to trellised olives," Kolber said. "I think it's great. It's a big learning process." This is the first year the crop manager has harvested olives.

Kolber said the continuing development of agricultural technology is a significant trend.

"Everything is mechanizing in agriculture. They're even incorporating GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) into field producing," Kolber said, making it possible for growers to keep an eye on crop yields without stepping into the orchards.

As Kolber and his men hasten to finish the harvest and beat any unsavory, wet weather, the olives will find their way to Bazzano Olive Ranch, just south of Stockton, meeting their collective fate as cooking oil.

Olive trees at a glance

Variety/number of trees
Arbequina clone: 521,395
Arbequina: 363,560
Arbosana clone: 158,933
Manzanillo: 34,851
Frantoio: 31,204
Mission: 27,688
Leccino: 14,719
Koroneiki clone: 11,570
Picual de hoja Clara: 9,172
Picholine: 6,634
Pendolino: 6,293
Koroneiki: 4,456
Maurino: 4,222
Lucca: 3,975
Sevillano: 3,192
Redding Picholine: 2,249
Columella: 2,150
Empress Maria Therezian: 2,000
Aglandau: 1,710
Taggiasca: 1,575
Coratina: 1,515
San Felice: 1,325
Cornia: 1,052
Rubra: 1,000
Source: www.oliveoilsource.com

Contact Business Editor Marc Lutz at marcl@lodinews.com.

Reader Feedback

Cogito wrote on Nov 25, 2008 8:25 PM:

" Mmmmmmmmmmm.......Olive Oil. "

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dogs4you wrote on Nov 25, 2008 11:31 AM:

" As far as crops are concerned, while not classified as a crop, the growing of sod in the islands takes up a sizable amount of land. That said, every time a new "crop" of sod is harvested, the land receeds 2'' at a time due to the machine that removes the sod. If this keeps up the land will be well below the Sacramento River, if not already. In the coming years artifical turf might be necessary to preserve whats left, and I can through away my lawn mower. "

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jramagic wrote on Nov 25, 2008 11:14 AM:

" Ok, Joe- I am indeed a city boy so I'll ask someone who is in the local agri business: "Please explain how and why it makes sense to grow crops in Isleton that cause dustbowl-like clouds of sky-darkening black peat dust to blow away in the wind each and every year when tilled?" "Wouldn't some sort of permanent "pickable" vine or tree be a better choice for the area, taking into account the big problem of subsiding levels of the Delta's islands?" "

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JonB wrote on Nov 25, 2008 10:08 AM:

" Nice piece, Marc! I enjoyed it. "

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joesr wrote on Nov 25, 2008 9:27 AM:

" jramagic,
Your comment epitomizes Isleton's non ag residents. You obviously know very little about local agriculture which could be easily remedied by asking questions of those who know and listening to the answers. "

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jramagic wrote on Nov 25, 2008 6:45 AM:

" I live near Isleton and I really wish that the local farmers there would follow Lodi's example and plant "permanent" crops like grapes and olives. Instead, they plant corn and veggies. When they till the peat, huge clouds of peat dust are blown east by the strong prevailing winds. This causes the island to recede, little by little...and it adds up. Plus, the peat dust- well-treated with chemicals -is unhealthy for the local residents. Last but not least- grapes and olives lends "class" to the area...much more so than turnips, etc! "

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