A California farmer’s stunning decision to hand out 125,000 pounds of nectarines for free triggered a rush of visitors, clearing his orchard in just a few days.
Reedley grower Cesar Mora, who farms in the Central Valley, said the turnout far exceeded anything his family had expected after he announced Monday that people could come pick the fruit at no cost rather than watch another crop spoil on the trees during a heated legal dispute with an agricultural company.
Mora now says the orchard has been completely picked clean.
“What started as one farmer’s refusal to let his harvest go to waste turned into something none of us could have predicted,” a message posted on his website said.
Mora alleges that agricultural powerhouse Giumarra prevented him from packing or selling the stone fruit because of a fight over ownership, even though he maintains he has personally cultivated the crop for the last 10 years.
When he opened the orchard to the public, Mora said, he and his family “had no idea what to expect.”
“The first day was modest, a steady stream of community members coming out to pick fruit and learn Cesar’s story,” the website stated.
“But then something happened. Word spread. People shared. And every single day the crowd grew bigger.”
The farmer said they had to “completely change” their operation several times due to the thousands of people who swarmed his orchard, which even lead to the giveaway being temporarily shut down by the California Highway Patrol for safety reasons.
Mora said they first switched from having people pick the fruit off the trees, to a bin system, where fruit was already picked. And lastly, to a full line system where volunteers handed bags directly to the community to make sure everything stayed organized and everyone got the chance to take home fruit.
He said by the end of the week more than 6,000 people had visited his farm, taking home around 182,000 pounds of fresh nectarines that he said “would have otherwise rotted on the ground.”
“To every person who came out, stood in line, volunteered their time, donated to Cesar’s legal fund, and shared his story, thank you,” the message read.
“You showed a farmer that his community has his back.”
Mora also noted how his fight isn’t over yet and said his trial is scheduled for July 20th.
Following all the publicity from the fruit giveaway, Mora said he received two letters, one was a cease and desist from Guimarra demanding that he stop the giveaway and the other a “preservation of rights,” calling for a full accounting of every single pound of fruit he gave away.
“I didn’t crown them and I don’t bow the knee to them either. I won’t bow to a false king,” Mora said in a TikTok.
The legal case has been working its way through the courts since 2023.
“Giumarra claims ownership of the variety of fruit Cesar grows and has sued him for breach of contract,” according to a GoFundMe for Mora. Cesar disputes both their ownership claim and the validity of the contract, and is fighting back by suing Giumarra for fraud and misrepresentation.
