From the Fields: Sean McCauley, ​​​​​​​Contra Costa County farmer

By Sean McCauley
Contra Costa County farmer

Our winegrapes and vines look great. All the whites and reds seem to be coming out well. The weather is cooperating. It hasn’t been too hot. For vertical farmers, we’re still value-adding the product. It’s just unfortunate the price is in the tank.

We did not grow any wheat this year because the price is so poor. It’s unbelievable. It’s $120 to $160 a ton, and it costs you $120 to put it in. We’re dry farmers, and in our area, we would lose money. Instead of summer-fallowing half our land, we did all 3,000 acres to let the ground rest this year. We hope the price is going to come back to where we can make some money. Another reason we fallowed is water. You build up that water table in the ground, so you usually have a better crop. 

We’re also assessing the olive crop. We’re probably four months away from harvest. Right now, we’re fighting off the olive fruit fly and doing some biological treatments. Our crop doesn’t look very good at all—not because of the fly. Quality is good. It’s just the yield. It’s at least a 25% decrease in tonnage per acre. I don’t know why. I’m trying to figure it out.

The market for our product has been excellent. Extra-virgin olive oil is more popular than ever, and we have built up traction from that. We can sell every bit of oil we have and don’t have to wholesale as much. Brentwood is the U-pick capital of the world, and we take advantage of U-pick season and ag tourism. 

With the smaller crop, we’re going to do less wholesale. In this day and age, you have to be agile with your farming entities. When you go vertical with these products, it’s important that as much effort goes into the retail piece as possible. When you have a great crop, you’re able to wholesale more. But when it doesn’t happen for you, then you scale it back and go full retail.