MEDFORD, Ore. — Midway through an early harvest, one of the world’s largest pear growers says its Rogue Valley crop isn’t meeting expectations. Medford-based Naumes Inc. said the harvest is two weeks ahead of schedule, and it looks like the yield will be 15 percent below normal. The company says the culprit was a two-day freeze in late March.
Bartlett production, coming off a short year in 2013, was above estimates by about 12 percent, company President Mike Naumes said. But Comice yields were 20 percent under estimates. Winter pears — Bosc, and red and green D’Anjou — will be short of estimates.
Though the harvest isn’t spectacular, the company faced bigger problems in Washington state, where a July wildfire east of the Range destroyed an employee’s home and 7 miles of deer fence surrounding 12,000 trees.