OliveOverview Production of Productionin Texas Monte Nesbitt in Texas & California • Olea europaea— • Family: Oleaceae • Fruit: drupe • Origin/Native area: (Mediterranean & Middle East) Turkey, Syria • Introduced to California by Spanish settlers – Mission San Diego (1769) • >2,000 varieties

Olive Fruit Use (major uses)

Oil Olives Table Olives • Varieties that have • Varieties whose high oil yield and shape, volume, flesh-to-stone ratio, produce fragrant oils firmness and ease of of stable quality and detachment make good taste. them suited for • Extra virgin-implies processing and mechanically pressed, eating. rather than chemically • Treated to remove extracted. bitterness and preserved by natural fermentation, heat treatment, canning, etc. World Production Annual per Total Production Oil Oil capita Country Production (tons) Production % Consumption consumption (tons) (2009) (2010)[48] (2010) (2005)[49] (kg)[50] World 19,735,617 3,269,248 100% 100% 0.43 Spain 7,923,000 1,487,000 45.5% 20% 13.6 14.8 liters Italy 3,286,600 548,500 16.8% 30% 12.4 Greece 2,285,000 352,800 10.8% 7% 23.7 Syria 885,942 177,400 5.4% 3% 7.0 Morocco 850,000 169,900 5.2% 2% 11.1 Turkey 1,290,654 161,600 4.9% 2% 1.2 Tunisia 750,000 160,100 4.9% 2% 5.0 Portugal 362,600 66,600 2.0% 2% 1.8 Algeria 475,182 33,600 1.0% 2% 7.1 Others 1,126,639 111,749 3.5% 28% 1.2 U.S.=9%, 1 liter

Source: Wikipedia- http://faostat.fao.org/site/636/DesktopDefault.aspx?PageID=636#ancor Perspective on world olive oil production

Pro- Pro- Consum Consum Exports Exports Imports Imports duction duction ption ption 2011/12 2012/13 2011/12 2012/13 2011/12 2012/13 2011/12 2012/13 World 3,321 2,425 3,085.5 3,041 803 765 769 832.5 Europea 2,395 1,459 1,790 1,690 555.5 467.5 96.5 155.5 n Union (Spain, Italy, etc) USA 4 10 300 293 4.5 6.0 300 288 Tunisa 182 220 35 40 129.5 175.0 0 0 Brazil 0 0 68 73 0 0 68 73

Values=1,000 Metric Tons

Source: http://www.internationaloliveoil.org/estaticos/view/131-world-olive-oil-figures Spain’s Industry California’s Industry

5.6 Million Acres 49,737 Acres on 1937 produced by half million Farms or producers or 25.6 Acres per farm 11 Acres per farm (2012)

90% used for oil 55% used for oil 10% used for canning 45% used for canning

Formerly 10% oil; 90% Canning California Olives

• 2 Canneries, supplied by 28,000 acres – Lafayette, CA (Contra Costa Co.)Tracy, CA (San Joaquin Co.) • 95% of Total U.S. Production • Hand Harvested • Fruit Size, variety important

• 400 Members • 90% of Total California Oil Production • 35,000 Acres—Anticipated expansion of 3,500 Ac/year through 2020 • Machine Harvested • Oil quality important; 75 varieties grown • 2012 harvest=2.4 Million Gallons • 2013 harvest=3.5 Million Gallons

California’s Olive Industry 40,694 Ac in Tehama 6 counties 8,647 Ac Butte 2,502 Ac 9,043 Glenn Additional 12,249 Ac Acres in 41 Counties Tulare 13,165 Acres

San Joaquin 3,104 Acres

San Luis Obispo 1,027 Ac Many of California olives are grown in zones 9B with annual winter low temps of 25-30 F, and protection from severe winter freezes by Rocky Mtns. February 11-13, 1899— Coldest Freeze Event on Record

-11 F

-1 F +6 F

0F +7.5 F +11 F

+12 F December 23, 1989

+1 F

+4 F +9 F

+6 F +14 F +15 F

+18 F

Source: Natl. Climate Data Center Potential Outcome

Wortham, TX 15 F (2011) 1989: -1 F (Corsicana) Williamson County, 2014, Low of 18 F Olives on Texas A&M Campus Spring Temperature Effects on Flowering of Olives • Denney and McEachern (TAMU) previously reported a need for late winter chilling (which they labeled ‘vernalization’). • Nasir Malik (USDA-ARS-Weslaco) refuted the need for chilling with controlled studies, BUT did identify a “high temperature interruption of flowering induction”. – 6 day period of ~77 oF. Both point to excessively warm winter/spring as deleterious to fruiting. Olives are a Mediterranean climate crop. • Appear as panicles having varying Olives--flowering numbers of flowers. • Male flowers and Perfect flowers on each tree • Predominantly on one-year old growth • Alternate Bearing • Self Incompatibility & Cross Incompatibility within and among varieties varies and affected by climate • Induction & differentiation of flowers requires late winter chilling (vernalization) • High temperature stress depresses flowering/increases incompatibility • Flowers frost sensitive (near 32 F)

David and Beverly Anderson Anderson Ranch, Dilley, Est. 1997

Slide/Photos: Karen Henry, Texas Olive Oil Council Saundra Winokur Sandy Oaks Olive Orchard, Elmendorf, Est. 1998

Slide/Photos: Karen Henry, Texas Olive Oil Council Jim Henry Texas Olive Ranch, Carrizo Springs, Est 2005

Slide/Photos: Karen Henry, Texas Olive Oil Council Madisonville What is scope and growth of the Texas olive industry today??? USDA Census Year Acreage # Farms 2002 NO DATA 2007 Not Reported 38 2012 760 Acres 87 County Acres Bandera 19 Bexar 98 Blanco 16 Colorado 76 Lavaca 30 Live Oak 16 Uvalde 7 Wilson 10 26 other counties have undisclosed acreage Objectives

• Report/Update on TOOC educational trip to Butte County, California. • Present preliminary findings of Texas olive production survey. Texas Olive Oil Council Educational Training in California-April, 2014 • Funding by TDA Specialty Crop Block Grant • Purpose-Observe and assimilate production current production strategies in California. • Hosts: Cliff Little, Agromillora; Adam Englehardt, Grower & Consultant

Agromillora, California Inc. Young production orchards

Traditional SHD Two-wire trellis system with wires at 4 and 6 ft. Tall T-posts Must train tree to central leader to 6 ft ht. (Labor intensive) Rows should be 1,000 to 1,200 feet for harvesting. Prefer N-S row orientation

Low Wire Trellis Method Single wire at 24 to 30” Small bamboo stake-3 ft tall Eliminates need for central leader. Trees are shaped through early tipping and topping. 3rd Year after planting: harvest 1.4-1.6 tons/Acre. Thereafter sustain 4.6-5.4 12-13 ft Row Spacing tons/Acre 4-6 ft Tree Spacing =558 Trees/Acre

OlivOlio.net Major oil varieties • -crops consistently; most cold hardy; lower oil extraction %. • -precocious; cold sensitive; 1-2% higher oil extraction than Arbequina • -more tree vigor, intermediate cold hardiness; alternate bearing tendency greater • New varieties considered: – Chicotita-Arbequina x Picqual (Univ. of Cordova) – Oliana-Arbequina x Arbosana—compact tree. New olive plantings are going on land not suitable for other orchard crops (almonds, pistachio, walnuts)

Reduced water requirement compared to other orchard crops is helping maintain/increase olive acreage. Features of super high density strategy

• Higher tree and training cost incurred to recover higher 2nd and 3rd year yields. • Spacing/Density: 5 x 13 (670 tpa) – Migration to 12’ row spacing • Less vigorous varieties (Arbosana) on weak soils planted 4 to 4.5’ in the row. • Koroneiki on vigorous soils planted 6’ in row. Not every olive orchard in California is in stellar condition Problems in California

Olive knot- Psudomonas savastanoi —bacterial wound invader, spread by mechanical hedging/harvesting and spring rains. • Fruit damaging pest Olive fruit fly found in most commercial olive regions, incl. California of the world.

Photo: Giancarlo Dessì, Istituto Professionale Statale per l'Agricoltura e l'Ambiente "Cettolini" di Cagliari. Peacock spot

• Cool/wet season fungal disease causing defoliation and fruit spotting.

http://www.oliveoilsource.com/page/disease-control

www.Olivediseases.com Cost/Revenue of SHD (per Adam Englehardt)

Land $ 5,000.00 First Production YearAnnual (3) Revenue Inputs DevelopmentFertilizer, herbicides(leveling, irrigation) $ 5,000.00 $350 Revenue 172 Gallons oil/Acre Labor (1 per/200A) $300 Establishment: Year 1 Care $ 900.00 $13/gallon average $ 2,236.00 Fuel/Electricity $250

YearEquip. 2 Care maint & Deprec. $ 1,100.00 $250 Per Acre Cost to get to producing orchardHarvest Inputs 4th Year and older $ 12,000.00 $ $375 1,275.00 $ 1,525.00 Net before debt service $ 961.00 Results of Texas Olive Survey

Link to Participate: : https://agrilife.az1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_3jGm3uAb3kb5g6V

Procedures: Email Survey using Qualtrics Online Survey software. Texas Olive Oil Council facilitated email contacts. No orchard identifiers collected. Respondents (38)

Acres Total NB NB Trees Acres Total NB NB Trees County planted Acres Planted County planted Acres Planted Austin 28 0.9 250 Lavaca 65 36.3 20,500 Bastrop 2.5 0.1 65 liberty 46 0.9 298 Blanco 6 0.0 0 Live Oak 1 0.0 32 Burnet 3 0.6 190 Madison 15 2.5 500 Chambers 0.14 0.0 0 Medina 6 3.8 284 Montgom DeWitt 2 0.1 60 ery 10 9.0 2,000 Dimmitt 82 9.0 6,000 Nueces 1 0.0 200 Fayette 4.3 1.9 420 Polk 3 0.1 10 Goliad 50 1.4 300 Robertson 5.5 600 Harris/Ref San ugio 21 6.6 3,200 Jacinto 3.5 1.9 900 Hays 8.1 0.4 140 Tarrant 5 0.1 25 Jim Hogg 100 124.0 36,000 Travis 4 3.1 400 Kerr 1 0.3 100 Wilson 39 27.3 4,792 LaSalle 25 0.0 0 Zavala 96 116.4 78,000

Acres: 562.54 Non-Bearing Acres: 206.8 Non-Bearing Trees: 155,266 Do you have olive trees of bearing age/size that have produced a harvestable crop?

# Answer Response % 1 Yes 13 33% 2 No 26 67% Total 39 100% Bearing-Age Tree Densities Reported

Tree Row Spacing Spacing Trees/Ac 3 8 1815 5 13 670 5 13 670 5 14 622 6 13 558 7 30 207 9 13 372 10 10 436 12 16 227 14 14 222 20 20 109 20 20 109 24 24 76 For all of these bearing trees, please choose the answer below that best describes your method of harvesting olives:

Answer Response % Hand harvest---I hand pick olives from each tree 7 58% into picking bags, buckets, totes or crates (or hire laborers to pick the crop). Machine harvest—I own and operate an over-the 4 33% row harvester or other machine that harvests the crop. Custom harvest---I hire an outside company to 1 8% machine harvest my crop. Shake and pick--I shake trees with a tree shaker 0 0% and pick fruit off the ground or tarps. Total 12 100% For all these bearing trees, please describe your method of milling olives for oil.

Answer Response % I own and operate my own press or mill to produce 4 50% olive oil, which I bottle and sell. I transport my crop to an outside company who mills 4 50% my crop for a fee. I bottle and sell oil. I transport my crop to an outside company who buys 0 0% my crop (or my crop is bought at the orchard). I do not handle or sell oil. Total 8 100% Variety Implementation in Texas

Most Planted 2nd Most Planted 3rd Most Planted Arbequina (69%) Arbosana (23%) Koroneiki (15%) Mission (23%) Arbequina (15%) Frantoio (7.6%) Picqual (15%) Koroneiki (15%) Manzanillo (7.6%) Koroneiki (15%) Manzanillo (7.6%) Chemlali (7.6%) Arbosana (7.6%) Mission (7.6%) Arbequina (7.6%) Aglandau (7.6%) Grower Perception of Variety Performance

Overall Best Variety 2nd Best Variety 3rd Best Variety Arbequina (80%) Mission (30%) Koroneiki (10%) Arbosana (10%) Arbosana (20%) (10%) Manzanillo (10%) Picqual (10%) Picqual (10%) Arbequina (10%) Mission (10%) Pendolino (10%) Sevillano (10%)

Varieties Removed by Growers Mariolo-1 tenera-1 Mission-1 Arbosana-1 Koroneiki-1 Please rate your agreement or disagreement that the followingoccurrences are a reality in your orchard: Question Agree Agree Neutral or Disagree Disagree Mean Strongly Somewhat Uncertain Somewhat Strongly

Lack of or absence of flowering in 9 4 14 3 2 2.53 some years Lack of fruit set after good 0 7 17 5 2 3.06 flowering in some years Light cropping—seldom or never 4 5 18 1 3 2.81 produced a big crop Alternate bearing—big crops 1 2 19 2 3 3.15 usually followed by light crop Erratic cropping; no consistency 2 2 15 7 3 3.24 among trees of the same variety Oil yield lower than anticipated 1 4 19 0 3 3.00 Please rate your agreement or disagreement that the followingoccurrences are a reality in your orchard: Question Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Disagree Mean Strongly Somewhat or Somewhat Strongly Uncertain

Good flowering and fruit set, 1 8 15 4 3 3.00 followed by good crop harvest in most years Frost or Freeze injury to trees 8 9 10 2 3 2.47 causing loss of crop and/or tree damage Loss of trees to soil problems, 4 5 13 2 5 2.97 diseases or unknown causes Challenges with harvesting 2 2 15 3 5 3.26 crop efficiently and affordably Do you have you have young, non-bearing olive trees in your orchard? (Young, non- bearing would be trees planted this year or the previous 1-4 years (2010-2014) that have not produced any fruit)

Answer Response % Yes 33 92% No 3 8% Total 36 100% Variety Implementation in Texas- Non bearing

Most Planted 2nd Most Planted 3rd Most Planted Arbequina (55%) Arbosana (22.5%) Koroneiki (11.5%) Mission (10%) Arbequina (16%) Picqual (11.5%) Chemlali (10%) Mission (10%) Chemlali (7.7%) Picqual (6.5%) Koroneiki (6.5%) Koroneiki (6.5%) For the non-bearing production described above, please indicate your anticipated method of harvesting olives when they begin tobear?

Answer Response % Hand harvest---I plan to hand pick olives from 13 42% each tree into picking bags, buckets, totes or crates (or hire laborers to pick the crop).

Machine harvest—I own and operate an over- 4 13% the row harvester or plan to own one by the time trees are bearing.

Custom harvest---I plan to hire an outside 7 23% company to machine harvest my crop.

Shake and pick--I plan to shake trees with a 7 23% tree shaker and pick fruit off the ground or tarps. Total 31 100% For the non-bearing production described above, please indicateyour anticipated method of milling olives for oil:

Answer Response % I own now or plan to own and operate my own 14 45% press or mill to produce olive oil, which I plan to bottle and sell. I plan to transport my crop to an outside 11 35% company who mills my crop for a fee. I will bottle and sell oil. I plan to transport my crop to an outside 6 19% company who will by my crop (or my crop is bought at the orchard). I will not handle or bottle oil. Total 31 100% Pathological Diagnoses Summary

Year Samples Received Diagnoses 2010 2 1 Nematodes 1 Cultural Problem 2011 1 1 Cultural Problem 2012 4 1 Cotton Root Rot Dimmitt Co. 3 Cultural Problem 2013 5 1 Cotton Root Rot LaSalle Co. 1 Cultural Problem 4 Phytophthora Madison, Fayette, Root Rot Austin 2014 1 Cotton Root Rot Medina

Texas A&M AgriLife Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic http://plantclinic.tamu.edu/ Phytophthora root rot Diagnosis – Part I Field characteristics, field history,

• Pattern of diseased plants and water drainage, – puddled water, poor drainage, saturated soils, • low areas in fields, nurseries, greenhouses, – flowing water, – “wet feet”. • Builds up in soils over time, – often appears when replanting old orchards.

Slide credit: Dave Appel Diagnosis – Part II Symptoms – below ground

• Loss of feeder roots, • Discoloration of vascular cambium on roots and root collar = canker, – Between soil line and crown roots, – Remove soil from base of tree, • Dark, decaying roots.

Slide credit: Dave Appel Diagnosis – Part III Symptoms – above ground

• Reduced tree vigor and growth, • Yellowing, chlorosis of leaves, – marginal burn, – mid-season, – premature defoliation, • Stunting, • Collapse of tree, death, – sometimes within same season, – sometimes 2-3 years, – confused with winter injury .

Slide credit: Dave Appel Diagnosis – Part IV Additional symptoms, laboratory diagnostics

• Submit sample to diagnostic laboratory, – get roots with advancing margin of lesion, – no decayed roots, – try not to submit treated plants – what was chemical management? • Laboratory processing, – isolation of organism, • note baiting, – serology (ELISA), • danger of false positives (tests not species specific), – Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR).

Slide credit: Dave Appel Control of Phytophthora Diseases Avoidance

• Choose resistant varieties and rootstocks, – most effective means of control if available, – great deal of variability, • e.g. some rootstocks can have increased susceptibility, • Select light soils with good drainage for orchards, – do not allow basin so that tree base doesn’t remain perpetually wet, – channel water away from base.

Slide credit: Dave Appel Control of Phytophthora Diseases Cultural practices

• Plant shallow, – keep graft union above soil line, • Plant on raised bed, • Plant vigorous, Phytophthora- free trees, – reject trees with necrotic roots, – purchase high-quality trees, • Reduce frequency of irrigation. • Treat with systemic fungicide.

Slide credit: Dave Appel Systemic Fungicides/Treatments for Root and Collar Rots

• Phosphorous acid -phosphonates and phosphites – nutritional supplements and “plant conditioners”, – highly systemic foliar spray, – Aliette, Agri-fos, Fosphite, ProPhyte, Topaz • Ridomil (mefenoxam, metalaxyl), – applications made just before growth in the spring, – 2 to 3 months intervals, – apply beneath tree canopy with enough water to ensure coverage, – rain and irrigation move it into soil, – peaches, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries.

Slide credit: Dave Appel

Cotton Root Rot Phymatotrichum omnivorum • Prefers alkaline, calcareous soils with high shrink/swell capacity. • Restricted by freezing temperatures; 82 F is optimal. • Poor competitive saprophyte. • Sclerotia not produced at pH <4.77. Control

• Avoid infested sites • Fumigation or fungicide drench?? – New Products Being Tested • Increase soil organic matter content • Lower (acidify) soil pH • Rootstock resistance (grapes, citrus) Other Potential Problems

• Verticillium & Fusarium Wilts—Not confirmed in Texas • Olive Knot (Pseudomonas syringae)—Not reported Texas; humid areas more possible. • Black Scale • Root Rots – Ganoderma • Deer Browsing Conclusions

• The major risk for olives is winter injury to trees, as well as spring frost to flowers & fruit. • Texas’ unpredictable climate with intermittent hot and cold periods also presents challenges for consistent fruit set. • Texas olive oil quality is very good, and the adaptability of the olive tree to many growing sites, lower water usage and higher salinity irrigation water are positives. • The Texas olive industry today is composed of very diverse size orchards with future profitability tied to affordable harvesting and milling. • Marketing and promotion of Texas olive oil as well as cultural research is needed.