We are in central Tuscany, about half way between Florence and the cost, at
about 350 upon sea level. Obviously in our area it didn't rain enough and at the
right moment. Anyway, the quantity of harvested olives and the oil yield are two
different things. While the quantity depends on the olives that survived the
lack of water mainly during growth, the low oil yield depends on two factors:
the harvesting period and the climate during this period.
1) If the olive trees do not get enough water during the ripening period of the
olives, they suffer a strong stress and reduce their vegetal activities. The
first thing they get rid of is the fruit. If the dry period takes longer, they
loose also leaves. I noted that all my older trees (from before the deadly
winter of 1985) that have deeper roots, were very full, also some of the younger
trees. But there where many younger trees that had very few olives, and often
you could find them in clusters.
2) It is normal that the yield is low if you harvest early, because only later
on the olives start to dy and dry out, so they weigh less and the yield is
higher and may be even higher than 20 percent. But the quality is worse, of
course. Anyway, the total oil quantity does not change very much, as research
says that about 95-98 percent of the oil is ready by the end of
october/biginning of november when we harvest and normal get only 13 - 15
percent of yield.
3) This year our harvesting period was extremely rainy, we even had olives that
had cracks like cherries after rain. Of course the absorbed water raises the
weigh and lowers the yield. We had yields between 10 and 13 percent (more
towards the coast they had even 8 percent), but we had very sane fruits and an
excellent oil quality. So what should we care about the slightly higher milling
cost per litre of oil, if the quality is perfect? The yield-reduction (and thus
the higher milling cost) is about 15 - 20 percent, while the milling cost is
about 12 - 15 percent of the gross price of the oil. So the cost raises about 2
- 3 percent of the gross price, which is still acceptable.
Kind regards
Volker Piasta
Agriturismo Podere San Lorenzo
I - 56048 Volterra (PI)
Tel: 0039 0588 39080
Fax: 0039 0588 39090
email: info@toscana-toskana.de
Olivenöl - olive oil - olio d'oliva