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Olive crop 2014 - picking started already

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Post by stevegwmonkseaton Sat Oct 04, 2014 9:55 am

Noticed in a post on Abruzzolutely forum that someone has spotted people picking olives already! This is apparently due to a worry that high humidity will ruin the crop, which by all accounts is very poor in any case. Just wondered what it was like elsewhere in Italy Question

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Post by stevegwmonkseaton Mon Oct 06, 2014 7:59 pm

Very sad to hear that lots of people in Abruzzo will not be even harvesting their olives this year. Forecast is for high prices for olive oil and sansa, we worry about those locals that depend on this income.

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Post by Flip Mon Oct 06, 2014 8:32 pm

Apparently very poor harvest expected here in Tuscany, and Lucca Olive oil is supposedly one of the best so that will have an economic backlash.
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Post by Admin Tue Oct 07, 2014 9:46 am

I read on Sunday that crops are down on avergae 30% across Italy and Spain due to the weather this year. The article also said that Northern Central Italy the losses are as much as 35-50%! In the Imperia province in Liguria (where I am) the farmer's union is saying it is the worst harvest for 15 years. 
We have very few olives and what we do have are full of fly. In hindsight we should have picked a month ago if we were to have any chance of any oil and even then it would have been very little. We won't be picking at all this year. It'll be a clean and burn year :-(
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Post by stevegwmonkseaton Tue Oct 07, 2014 10:00 am

Indeed sad to hear Admin. In the posts on this on Abruzzolutely someone indicated olives with fly can be dangerous if pressed for oil, is this correct? I find it hard to believe as last time I visited the frantoio with a friend a guy was sweeping up and there were loads of maggots on the floor!

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Post by Admin Tue Oct 07, 2014 10:35 am

No, it's not dangerous. The holes where the flies exit cause oxidisation so the quality is lowered. There are olive flies every year - it just depends on the %age affected. This year is particularly bad as we had a mild winter and the harvest is low so they proprotion affected is higher.
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Post by Flip Tue Oct 07, 2014 1:15 pm

Top Tip..... stock up NOW with good quality EVOO as the prices will hit the roof when this harvest is in.
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Post by stevegwmonkseaton Tue Oct 07, 2014 1:26 pm

Flip wrote:Top Tip..... stock up NOW with good quality EVOO as the prices will hit the roof when this harvest is in.

What amazes me is that shops have not already put their prices up. I'm sure you won't be able to get local oil for love or money! I heard of one lady who lost her husband many years ago and supports her family who is distraught. She sells her oil to regular customers and does not know how they will react to being told there is no oil this year. She sees it as a long term issue as opposed to a one off bad year. I'm sure they will be aware of the situation and not react badly, but it does not stop her worrying about a main part of her income.

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Post by sebastiano Thu Oct 09, 2014 6:37 am

yes,it's a very bad year here in the marche.though as always there will be some exceptions.we,for example are self sufficient normally in olive oil year round and we only use oilve oil for cooking too plus we sell some this year as last years is almost finished there will be no significant crop so we'll be pruning quite hard nothing else to do the work remains without any benefits....it's the will of the prophet....
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Post by FBower Fri Oct 10, 2014 5:18 pm

Lazio too - not enough olives to bother even trying. we only have a few trees but they can produce enough to keep us in olive oil all year. This year non vale la pena

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Post by stevegwmonkseaton Fri Oct 10, 2014 5:46 pm

The word on Abruzzo is that it will be difficult to find an open frantoio this year.

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Post by Gala Placidia Sat Oct 11, 2014 6:26 am

I happened to read a Spanish article saying that weather conditions was not the only factor influencing olive yield and that olive trees are subject to "alternate cropping!, that is to say that after a year of abundant production, the trees take "a rest". The 2013-2014 yield was exceptional in both quantity and quality, which may explain what is happening this season. I found this article in English, which explains the same http://www.mediterraneangardensociety.org/olives.html
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Post by stevegwmonkseaton Sat Oct 11, 2014 8:46 am

Interesting, but I think, as indicates is a variable impact within groves or even down to tree level and something that happens each year. Indeed I do suspect pruning has something to do with it, but I had not heard about the severe frost impact. I have seen neighbours pruning just half their trees and wondered if this was because of the "year on year off" factor. Strange enough the 3 different groups we have helped over the last 4 years have always had a crop and little variation in yield? Oddly enough they all do differently when in comes to pruning, one never, another every year and the last very haphazardly !

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Post by maggie888 Sun Nov 02, 2014 8:30 pm

Down on the southern border of Abruzzo in the hills above San Salvo and Vasto picking is almost finished. Because we grow olives in Australia we have been very interested, Simon taking lots of pictures (a partly tax deductible trip??!!) Farmers we have talked to have confirmed it's a bad year, partly frost, partly bugs (glad we don't have them in Australia - yet). This year sounds disastrous for those relying on the income or never having to buy oil.

Back home we have always known about the "good year / bad year" cycle, although it doesn't necessarily affect all one's trees in a year. In other words, trees that bore heavily last year will most likely bear lightly this year and vice versa. Unfortunately our Italian isn't yet good enough to explore if this phenomenon is common in Italy. As to pruning, we are in the "prune while you pick" bunch (chainsaw is good),or the haphazard bunch and have friends who are in the "never" bunch. Have noticed the same variations here, as Steve pointed out. Not sure it makes ay difference - the trees do what they want mostly.

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