‘I should be picking them right now, but I’m not’: California farmer was banned from selling 125,000 lbs of nectarines — so he gave them away instead

“I should be picking them right now, but I’m not all due to a giant ag corporation that has been preventing me from doing anything with this crop,” he said in a video posted to his Facebook page.

At the center of the dispute is a years-old contract with one of California’s largest fruit marketers. Mora alleges the company falsely claimed it had exclusive rights to the nectarine variety he grows, while the company says he violated a valid agreement by selling the fruit elsewhere. The lawsuit remains ongoing.

Why couldn’t he sell his own nectarines?

Mora signed a 2017 agreement to grow and sell the Monalise white nectarine variety through Giumarra Brothers Fruit Co., which says it holds rights to the variety through a sublicense from French company Star Fruits Diffusion.

Under the agreement, Mora was required to sell the fruit only through Giumarra. But he now alleges the company misrepresented its rights to the variety and has not provided the licensing documentation he says would prove its claims.

After Mora ended the relationship in 2023 and sold to another packer, Giumarra sued him for breach of contract. Mora countersued, accusing the company of unfair practices and arguing that he was misled.

A judge has ruled that the agreement remains valid regardless of the patent status, according to the Associated Press.

Giumarra’s attorneys told KSEE/KGPE that the company remains committed to “honoring our contractual obligations” and “safeguarding the proprietary programs” that support its grower partners.

Mora has said the fight has put his future in farming at risk. Instead of letting the crop fall to the ground, he launched a giveaway under the name “No Nectarines Wasted.”