LDS vineyard yields bumper harvest
E-mail story
It's easy. Send a link to the story you were just reading to a friend. Just fill out the form on this page and we'll send it along.
Your name and e-mail address are transmitted to the recipient. Otherwise, it is considered private information; see Privacy policy.
MADERA, Calif. — The sun had just risen over the Sierra Nevada mountains on Saturday, Aug. 31 and already thousands of Latter-Day Saints were busy harvesting a record crop of raisin grapes in the Church's welfare vineyard here.
This season's production estimate from the 53-year-old, 80-acre vineyard located just north of Fresno is at least 180 tons — far eclipsing the record crop of 142 tons two years ago, according to Jamie Hansen, vineyard manager.
"Raisin production is very labor-intensive and the saints truly come through each year for harvest and other vineyard duties," Brother Hansen said.
Adult members, along with their children, gathered in force during the traditional Labor Day weekend harvest. Many came out to harvest the Thursday and Friday before the weekend to get a head start on the heavy crop. They are members of eight central California Stakes — Merced, Hanford, Visalia, Porterville and four Fresno Stakes.
Each ward harvests four to six rows. Once workers finish their rows, they hop over to another row and help another ward get the job done. The Thompson seedless grapes are cut from the vine, put into large grape pans then dumped onto paper trays laid out between the vine rows. Youth often lay the paper down just ahead of those emptying the pans.
"Working with so many hard-working hands sure gets the job done faster," said Carol Brown of the Van Ness Ward, Fresno California Stake, who has worked in the vineyard since she was 5 years old.
The grapes dry naturally on the trays under the hot central San Joaquin Valley sun for about 21 days. Halfway through the drying process, workers turn the grapes on the trays, then later roll them up and put them into bundles to make it easier for the pick-up crew. Local members handle all operations.
When ready, the dried fruit is put into bins and sent to nearby Sun Maid Raisin Co., which custom packs the product in Deseret-label boxes. From there, it is sent to Salt Lake City's Bishop's Central Storehouse where it is distributed throughout the welfare system of the Church. Humanitarian relief efforts worldwide, in addition to food banks, soup kitchens and rescue missions throughout the country, also receive raisins.
"Over the years, especially when rain threatened the crop, as many as 10,000 saints have been in the vineyard at one time," said Brother Hansen. "They park their cars as far as 2.5 miles away and walk in. Also, saints who used to live in the area but have moved, often come back for harvest. They are very dedicated to the farm."
Stake high counselor representatives are in constant contact with Brother Hansen and they get information to individual wards about what needs to be done, and when.
Another big vineyard project is winter pruning, which brings about 2,000 workers back among the dormant vines. Again, each ward looks after its assigned rows.
One reason for this season's record crop is that it followed a much lighter crop last season due to frost damage. Another factor is that a new drip irrigation system is more efficiently watering the grapes. "Of course there's always divine intervention," said Brother Hansen. "The members are not professional vineyard workers and sometimes make mistakes in pruning, which can take a year for the vine to recover. But increased training and dedication from veteran workers have improved things at the vineyard," he said.
With the new drip irrigation system, the vineyard is expected to continue producing heavy yields.
"It's amazing to see the saints start the day with bare ground in between the vines and by 1 p.m., the vineyard floor is covered with drying grapes," Brother Hansen said.
