May 17, 2026
The colloquialism, "Ain't it a peach," doesn't even begin to cover how farmer Sarb Johl feels.
The Marysville, California resident faces the heartbreaking decision to rip up acres of recently planted Ross cling peach trees on his 20-acre property in Yuba County.
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It's all fallout from the Del Monte Foods filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2025. That announcement led to the liquidation of its assets, including a canning plant in Modesto. There were no buyers of that location, resulting in the loss of 600 full-time employees, 1,200 seasonal employees and a central hub for farms to deliver their peach, apricot and pear produce to market (1).
"We've barely recovered the investment that we put into developing it," Johl told the Sacramento Bee, while standing amid his crop of 9-year-old trees (2). "It takes three years before you pick a crop, and you harvest for five or six years. You're trying to recoup the investment that you put into it."
He is one of many peach farmers throughout the Greater Sacramento area who have been stuck in 20-year contracts totaling more than $550 million, or $12,500 per acre. About 74,000 tons were delivered last year to Del Monte. Now, with only two processing plants left — owned by Pacific Coast Producers in Lodi and Oroville — only about a third of that, 24,000 tons, will find a home, leaving the rest to rot or be destroyed.
Finding new business growth
Ross cling peaches are considered a late harvest variety, with yields coming in early August. It's also ideal for processing as it maintains its shape and firmness throughout the canning process.
Johl entered 20-year contracts with Del Monte in 2023 and 2024. His peach trees are 9-years-old, and have not drawn interest from Pacific Coast Producers.
Pacific Coast Producers is an agricultural cooperative of about 160 family-owned farms located in Northern California (3). The company operates facilities in California and Oregon. They emerged as the winning bidder for Del Monte's assets on February 6 in New Jersey (4).
"They're the only player left. What are you going to do?" Johl said. "In the peach business, you do what the processor wants you to do. And what variety they want you to grow, you just grow it. You're growing it for their needs. If they don't need it — and that's what we're faced with now — they just don't need all these peaches."
Karm Bains of Sutter County, a fourth-generation peach farmer, finds himself in a similar situation, but said supporting industries, like farm laborers, pesticide sprayers, truck drivers and more, will be impacted.
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"Nobody wins in a situation like this. We're all losing," Bains told the Sacramento Bee. "Somebody might be hurting a little bit more than their neighbor, depending on the size and the scale of what you had. But it's devastating. And we still don't know what to expect."
California farmers are used to the ebb and flow of processors. In July 2000, Tri-Valley Growers filed for bankruptcy (5).
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There is hope taking root
There's a larger trend across the United States with many farms being forced to let crops rot or trees being uprooted because they are simply unable to afford maintaining the land (6).
In the case of California's peach farmers, there seems to be a solution taking root beyond the orchard. U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Representatives Mike Thompson (D-Calif.-04) and David Valadao (R-Calif.-22) have asked the Trump administration for help to offset the gaps left by Del Monte's bankruptcy.
"Following our urging to the Trump administration to deliver relief to peach farmers, I am pleased that USDA is unlocking this federal funding," Schiff wrote in a joint press release (7). "California is the nation's largest agriculture state and I'm glad Secretary Rollins is engaging with us to support our producers."
The U.S. Department of Agriculture granted the bipartisan request from 38 California lawmakers for aid, earmarking $9 million to fund a clingstone peach tree removal project for farmers.
By volume, the Golden State is the largest producer of peaches in the country, providing about 475,000 to 550,000 tons of peaches annually (8). It surpasses both South Carolina and the Peach State, Georgia.
Article sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.
The Modesto Bee (1); The Sacramento Bee (2); Pacific Coast Producers (3); Action News Now (4); Los Angeles Times (5); Fortune (6); U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (7); U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service (8)
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Brian Baker is an Associate Editor with Moneywise. He has been a media professional for over 20 years.
