I'm not a shareholder in this company, but I have been doing some research into California agriculture lately.
I came across this article from a local Californian new site recently which I thought might be of interest here. My suspicion is that this news may have had something to do with the recent share price movement.
Apparently the Californian raisin growers have had a disappointing crop this year. The relevant extracts from the article are below:
Raisin farmers and packers have settled on a price for the 2017 Natural Seedless raisin crop at $1,800 a ton, the second-highest in the industry’s history.
And while that would be great news in a normal year, this isn’t a normal year.
Raisin industry officials said the crop has been plagued with uneven growing weather and rain. A severe heat wave scorched the Fresno area in early June, damaging about 5 percent of the crop.
“Despite this being the second-highest in history,” said Kalem Barserian, chief executive officer of the Raisin Bargaining Assocaition, a grower group based in Fresno, “there will be no winners.”
Barserian said this is probably one of the four worst crops he has seen in his 52 years in the California raisin industry.
He said yields were off about 32 percent of normal.
My understanding is the USA typically produces about 25% of raisins worldwide, almost all of which are grown in California.
MRG Price at posting:
42.8¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
