LAKEPORT >> With a long, curvaceous neck and sun-kissed blush on its side, the Lake County pear is distinguished in the market worldwide. Yet, with challenges in labor and ever-changing regulations, many believe the industry is disappearing. There are fewer pear sheds in operation in Lake County.
One local pear company, however, points out that their numbers continue to show a strong market for the county’s number two agricultural crop.
The Scully Packing Company, with two packing houses in Lake County — one in Finley and the second on Scotts Valley Road — has continued to produce a great number of pears for over 30 years in a row, growing seven popular pear varieties.
“A lot of people believe that the pear industry is dying here, but it’s not,” said owner Toni Scully. “We still produce 20 percent of all pears growing in California here in Lake County.”
Just in the Scotts Valley facility alone, an equivalent between two sheds of 50 trucks and trailers are loaded with pears every day. Scully shares that each load holds 48 bins, each weighing slightly over 1,000 pounds. With 50 truck loads, each with 50,000 pounds of pears, the Lakeport facility packs in a total of 2,500,000 pounds of the fruit every day in the peak of their harvest.
Production is distributed to two separate routes, with 50 percent going to various processors such as canneries and bins. The other half is sent out to the fresh market. Their fresh market sell is what Scully believes is very impressive about the ongoing success of the company.
“We are very big in the market. Of that 20 percent of all pears growing in the state from the county, we actually send between 30 to 35 percent to the fresh market,” she said.
The Lake County pear isn’t just a spin, however. It is “measurable” and the company prides itself for its top quality pear. According to Scully, the locally-grown fruit has higher soluble solids, meaning sugar, ultimately giving the pear more stability, flavor, and a longer shelf life.
These three traits are brought to consumers with the help of 450 employees — another quality proving that the industry is still robust, says Scully. At a glance, one Scotts Valley shed holds about 225 employees all working simultaneously in their department for 10-hour shifts, six days a week. From inspecting each pear one by one, wrapping, and piling up cardboard boxes, the facility is at full steam just before Labor Day weekend arrived — the end of a speedy three weeks of packaging before the start of another.
While overseeing the facility, Scully counts with her fingers all the activities lined up after summer, their busiest season. “We have farming, two late harvests, labeling — which sometimes takes until Thanksgiving to finish, legislative things to take care of, and we also have research,” she listed. Scully Packaging runs year round.
But like any other busy business, there are many challenges that can arise, increasing the risk of downfall. Scully says labor has been the most difficult to manage in the present years.
“Labor gets tighter every year,” she pointed out. “I think this year is exacerbated by the fact that a lot is going on in fire rebuilding. All kinds of fire reconstruction projects are taking place, moving a lot of our men over to that area.”
Constant change in regulations comes in second as the most challenging. The Scully Company has had to reevaluate the way they monitor everything from weather, water usage, and chemical usage. Farming, for example, has become very “scientific.” With an irrigated lands monitoring program, runoff is monitored to limit pollution onto Clear Lake.
Despite that, pears were the second largest attribute that helped increase the county’s agricultural production by 9 percent, according to the 2015 Crop Report by the Lake County Department of Agriculture. A total gross value of pears that year was over $26 million, an increase of 21 percent from 2014. Most money within the Sully company remains “here with local families and businesses,” the owner said.
Sully pears are not just shipped domestically, though. About 20 percent of crops are exported worldwide. Mexico and Canada are the top destinations and Asia, Central America, and South America follow behind.
Despite the number of people in agriculture dropping every year, Sully believes the pear industry is here to stay because it is more than just about pears. It’s about communities, from those working tirelessly to earn income for their families, to teenagers starting their first summer jobs at the sheds, to returning college graduates in management.
Sausha Racine, the assistant manager, began working at the Scotts Valley facility at the early age of 16 and has been managing the sheds for over 10 years after graduating from UC Davis where she realized the pear industry was for her. “I enjoy working for the Scully family and I like what they stand for as a family and business.”
“It’s pretty interesting and it’s pretty all encompassing what agriculture does in California. I want to see this industry continue for generations to come,” said Sully, whose two sons help manage the company.
