Record price for 2017 Valley raisin crop. But will farmers make any money?

Raisin farmers and packers have settled on a price for the 2017 Natural Seedless raisin crop at $1,800 a ton, the second-highest in the industry’s history.

And while that would be great news in a normal year, this isn’t a normal year.

Raisin industry officials said the crop has been plagued with uneven growing weather and rain. A severe heat wave scorched the Fresno area in early June, damaging about 5 percent of the crop.

In September, heavy rains – two within a two-week period – further reduced the size of a crop that was already coming up short of the expected estimate of 235,000 tons.

“Despite this being the second-highest in history,” said Kalem Barserian, chief executive officer of the Raisin Bargaining Association, a grower group based in Fresno, “there will be no winners.”

Barserian said this is probably one of the four worst crops he has seen in his 52 years in the California raisin industry.

He said yields were off about 32 percent of normal.

“We ask everyone to be patient until things settle down so our growers and processors can get the product ready for market,” Barserian said.

This story was originally published October 13, 2017 at 2:34 PM with the headline "Record price for 2017 Valley raisin crop. But will farmers make any money?."