Overview
- Federal agriculture officials approved $9 million to pay growers to remove about 420,000 Clingstone peach trees before the next harvest to prevent a market flood.
- Del Monte Foods shut its Modesto and Hughson canneries in April after seeking creditor protection in July 2025, which cut processing capacity and cost hundreds of jobs.
- Pacific Coast Producers, a farmer cooperative that acquired Del Monte’s canned-goods business, will take roughly 24,000 tons of peaches, leaving about 50,000 tons without buyers this season.
- Local reporting estimates growers face about $550 million in lost contract income, while the tree-removal program is expected to avert roughly $30 million in further losses.
- The Clingstone season runs from late May through September, so losing processors now strands fruit with a short selling window and threatens multi‑generation family orchards that relied on long‑term contracts.