Following Del Monte Foods' bankruptcy filing, California farmers are expected to destroy nearly 420,000 clingstone peach trees in an effort to help growers recoup roughly $30 million worth of losses.
What's happening?
Del Monte Foods, the canned produce company, filed for bankruptcy after operating for almost 140 years. Now, the food processing company has shuttered several canneries, which has resulted in an enormous amount of stranded peaches that can't be sold and canceled contracts.
Since filing for bankruptcy, Del Monte has sold its assets to Pacific Coast Producers, which did agree to buy about a third of the farmers' peach supply. Yet, the sheer quantity of stranded peaches alarmed farmers and lawmakers alike.
Lawmakers successfully urged the USDA to provide at least $9 million to pay growers to kill the peach trees, containing approximately 100 million pounds of peaches, so that other crops can be planted in their place. The trees cover nearly 3,000 acres of farmland.
California farmers to destroy 420,000 peach trees following Del Monte bankruptcy https://t.co/kdIM2apIOb pic.twitter.com/1dba16DP12
— SFGATE (@SFGate) May 5, 2026
California Senator Adam Schiff released a press statement after the USDA funds were secured. In the statement, Schiff's team noted "countless peach growers in the region are facing widespread contract cancellations, no market for their crop, and lack a viable path to mitigate their losses. The assistance from USDA will support affected growers in pulling trees and transitioning to new crops."
Congressman Mike Thompson similarly released a statement on the situation. In it, his team wrote: "The Del Monte facility processed a substantial share of the state's canned fruit production, including more than 30% of California peaches. With no comparable alternative processing capacity available, producers are facing severe uncertainty and financial hardship. … When a processing facility closes and [countless] acres of fruit suddenly have nowhere to go — that's not something a family farm can just absorb."
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The intervention may offer short-term relief, but the situation is also a reminder that resilience in the food system depends not just on what is grown in the field, but on the infrastructure needed to process, preserve, and move that food once it is picked.
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