Warriors Weekend FORUM end Hornets’ entertainment Our readers write winning streak .............Page 6 ..............Page 3 ...................................Page 4 INSIDE Mendocino County’s World briefly The Ukiah local newspaper ..........Page 2 Tomorrow: Cloudy, showers; H 49º L 31º 7 58551 69301 0 THURSDAY Jan. 31, 2008 50 cents tax included DAILY JOURNAL ukiahdailyjournal.com 16 pages, Volume 149 Number 297 email:
[email protected] Orchard falls to farming economics By K.C. MEADOWS “All farming’s tough,” he said, and because pears are being imported cheap- The Daily Journal added that these days, “it’s not what you er. And, like many other economic sec- Local residents who drive in the grow, it’s what you sell.” tors, consolidation is happening among Perkins Street corridor have been won- Pears are not garnering the kinds of the fruit buyers, giving them a much dering why a huge pear orchard by the prices needed to pay for the pruning, more powerful position from which to Russian River has been torn out. pest control, picking and other orchard dictate prices to the growers. The answer is simple: Pears aren’t activities. “It’s a commodity,” Thomas stated paying. Plus, said Thomas, lots of pear buyers bluntly, not wishing, he said, to sound as The owner of the 56 acres of pears, - the supermarkets and others - are get- John Thomas, a member of the well- ting their pears offshore. See PEARS, Page 15 known Thomas family of pear growers, Just 10 years ago, Thomas said, you said Wednesday he could no longer could still make a pear orchard work afford to keep the orchard going.