Pear growers welcome growth of wine industry
The impressive growth of the wine industry in southwestern Oregon isn't sour grapes to those who grow pears.
"I see a lot of cooperation going on between the wine industry and the pear industry," observed Bill Eckart, executive director of the Fruit Growers League. "We help each other in direct marketing. The two industries are surviving together rather than trying to pre-empt each other."
The pear industry, for which Jackson County has been known nationally for a century, remains healthy, he said.
"We still have the three largest pear orchards in the world," he said, referring to Bear Creek (Harry and David) and Naumes and Lowry (Associated Fruit), which have roughly 2,000 acres each planted in pears. "There have also been some new plantings to replace old trees."
By his estimates, nearly 7,000 acres of pear trees are planted in Jackson County.
"There are a lot of small orchards not on the grid, mainly you-pick orchards," he noted.
Pear production harvested more than $31 million in Jackson County last year, according to data compiled by the College of Agriculture at Oregon State University. That included 66,175 tons of pears.
"Pears are holding their own," observed Phil Van Buskirk, of the Jackson County's OSU Extension Service, noting the pear crop accounts for 11 percent of the local economy.
"Given the economic diversity we have here, that's quite a bit," he added.
Although orchards once covered some 12,000 acres in the county, the decreased acreage over the last few decades hasn't meant a major reduction in tonnage produced, thanks to improved varieties and growing methods, orchardists said. One of the biggest challenges to the industry in recent years has been cheap imported pears, they said.
In addition to the income from the harvest, the local pear industry, like the grape crop, has many spin-off businesses, Eckart said.
"But we're all going through some dramatic changes," he said of the rising fuel costs that are impacting the economy. "Wineries count on rubber-tire visits. With the increased cost of energy, we don't know what the impact will be."
Those who visit wineries tend to be more affluent, but the pear industry has its own affluent customers, he added.
"Harry and David is an internationally recognized brand," he said. "People come to visit the valley because of them."
For decades, the Harry and David catalog has been offering holiday gifts of prime pears from the Rogue Valley, drawing customers from around the globe.
"We have a lot of good tree fruit, most of which is shipped out of the valley," he said. "We also have a number of small, local growers out there. I don't see them going away. There are a lot of innovations going on in the industry."