The olive harvesting campaign 2018/2019 is being influenced by various factors that make it atypical.
First, we come from an extremely rainy spring that ended a long period of drought, in which the olive trees had suffered such severe water stress that there was even fear of losing more than one farm. These heavy rains made the crop recover in a surprising way, despite the fact that in the newly planted it caused losses due to root asphyxia, and caused that on the one hand the flowering was delayed and on the other that this flowering was abundant, although due to sudden changes in temperatures, in some places it will fail.
Secondly, we must highlight the influence of a very mild summer, with very mild temperatures that have allowed the crop to vegetate without the symptoms of summer stop being perceived (augustamiento) which is usually produced by high temperatures. However, delay in flowering, estimated between 20 Y 30 days in relation to a normal year, It is transferred to this phase of the crop in which the fruit grows fat until it reaches the final size.
In third place, the early autumn rains have had a decisive influence on the development of the campaign, that on the one hand they made the olive trees recover quickly from the very slight symptoms of water stress that some exploitation could have presented but on the other, in the absence of light intensity, have caused that the delay suffered by the crop since flowering was seen
accentuated on those dates, in which the oil should form.
As a consequence of this "abnormal" development of the crop, we find ourselves at the beginning of the campaign with very low yields., although with very aromatic and high quality oils. These low yields have meant that the olive growers did not start harvesting until well into December., besides starting all of them practically at the same time.
At this time the yields are recovering, being at levels that would be normal in mid-November, which means that the delay generated in flowering has been maintained until harvest.
In this campaign, the olive harvest has begun in the new center of the Cooperative in Los Villalones, well received by farmers in the area, as evidenced by daily entries that oscillate between 40 Y 60 tons.
In Jerez the entry of olives has also increased, although to a lesser extent, because being an area of large farms and productions, most of the partners transport the olives by their means to the Olvera facilities, leaving our reception center in El Portal for those small producers to whom bringing olives to Olvera represents an economic loss.
And with these premises we dare to venture that we are facing the largest olive harvesting campaign in the history of the Cooperative, with a figure that will be around the 20 million kilos of olives.
