Citrus packing house observes 85 years in Yuma

  During the past century, citrus has been a major crop for the Yuma area, ranking as one of the critical five "Cs" to Arizona's early economy.

  And one of the big players in that industry has been Yuma Mesa Fruit Growers Association, which is holding its 85th annual meeting this week.

  That makes the cooperative citrus packing house the oldest surviving such establishment in Yuma County, said general manager Mike Aguirre.

  The citrus industry got its start after Bureau of Reclamation projects brought irrigation to the desert in the early 1900s. As the hard work of early pioneering farmers bore fruit, they saw a need to process and market their grapefruit, lemons and oranges.

  So they got together and formed Yuma Mesa Fruit Growers Association. That was in 1923.

  Since then, the fortune of the citrus industry has seen a lot of changes, reflected Aguirre. Joining him was Daniel R. Owen, director of fresh fruit quality assurance in Arizona for Sunkist Growers, a cooperative marketing group in Arizona and California which Yuma Mesa Fruit Growers belongs to.

  The packing house originally was at 2 W. 6th St., where Associated Citrus Packers now is located, Aguirre said. In those early days, the area had considerably more grapefruit, and the packing house included a cannery where grapefruit juice was processed.

  For the fresh market, each grapefruit was individually wrapped, then placed in 60-pound wooden crates bearing colorful labels promoting catchy brand names.

  Desert King was the predominant brand for the packing house, followed by Desert Prince. Today those labels are collectors' items, cherished for their memories of the heyday of citrus and for the pride that obviously went into designing them.

  The wooden crates have been replaced by plastic or cardboard, labels no longer are used and little grapefruit remains.

  In fact, the entire citrus industry has declined from its height in the 1960s, when there was a total of about 25,000 acres of trees in Yuma County - much of it planted by veterans who homesteaded here after World War II.

  Since then, rising production costs and increasing competition have taken their toll on the industry. Some farmers have turned developers who have found a new cash crop in houses.

  In 2006, according to the Yuma County Cooperative Extension, only 10,405 acres of citrus remain: 7,155 acres of lemons, 125 of grapefruit, 250 of Valencia oranges, 125 of other oranges and 2,750 of tangerines and tangelos.

  Lemons are the predominant citrus crop for this area. In fact, Arizona is second only to California in the U.S. production of lemons, and much of that acreage is in the Yuma area.

  That's a position the crop may well retain in years to come as it fits a niche market for lemons harvested in the winter months, said Owen.

  There is some competition from lemons imported from Mexico, he said. However, probably 50 percent of the U.S. fresh lemon market is the food service industry such as restaurants.

  "They're very loyal to U.S. products," Owen said. "There will always be a demand for winter lemons."

  Consumers are well aware of the lemon slice in their iced tea or water or served with a fish dish. But increasingly lemon is an important ingredient in prepared dishes, especially as Oriental food becomes more popular, Owen said.

  Owen estimated that 70 percent of lemons grown in the U.S. is used domestically, while 30 percent is exported, primarily to Japan.

  "The Japanese are a very strong buyer of U.S. citrus," he said, estimating that country receives an average of 80,000 carton a week just of lemons.

  In a more personal change for Yuma Mesa Fruit Growers, the co-op moved in 1948 to its current home at 2198 S. Pacific Ave. It is one of four remaining citrus packing houses in Yuma.

  Many of its grower members represent a new generation of the original growers. It employs 400 pickers and 100 employees in the packing house.

  "We still employ a lot of people," noted Aguirre, who started working for the company 38 years ago when he was 17 and in high school. "It's still an important part of the Yuma-area economy."

  Bearing that out, on the $1 billion in gross agriculture revenue in 2006, the citrus industry accounted for $23 million, according to the Yuma County Cooperative Extension.

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Joyce Lobeck can be reached at jlobeck@yumasun.com or 539-6853.