Total acreage planted and yet to be planted this season for cantaloupes on the West Side of California’s San Joaquin Valley is expected to be similar to last year, with perhaps a slight variation up or down depending on the observer.

Anthony Vineyards Inc. in Bakersfield, CA, which grows grapes in the Coachella Valley of California, the earliest district in the state, and also in the southern San Joaquin Valley, expects to begin the transition from the desert deal in Coachella into the San Joaquin Valley deal in late June this year, according to John Harley, vice president of sales and marketing.

The company expects overlap between the two deals, due to the grapes in Coachella running later than usual and an anticipated earlier-than-usual start in the San Joaquin Valley.

Columbine Vineyards in Delano, CA, which grows grapes in the San Joaquin Valley of California, both in the Arvin area and in Delano, expects a sizeable crop for the 2013 season.

“It is looking like a big year” with “lots of fruit, lots of bunches,” Sales Manager Anthony Stetson said in an interview with The Produce News. “It is too early to say on quality, but if everything comes to fruition, it will be a nice volume year.”

For Stevco Inc., which is headquartered in Los Angeles and has branch offices in Nogales, AZ, and in Coachella and Bakersfield, CA, will have an increase in acreage of both Flame seedless grapes and Sugraone green seedless grapes during the early part of the season in California’s San Joaquin Valley, according to Jared Lane, vice president of sales and marketing.

Flame seedless grapes and Sugraone green seedless grapes, the two major early-season varieties for Sundale Sales Inc. in Tulare, CA, are among the varieties in which the company will have increased volume in 2013 due to young acreage coming on line.

“We have increased acreage of both, with two new blocks coming into [fuller] production this year, both on Flames and on the Sugraones,” said President Sean Stockton. “Last year, we had first-year crop” on those vineyards, he said. “This will be the first full crop on those early acres.”

Crown Jewels Produce Co. in Fresno, CA, expects an increase in its table grape volume out of the San Joaquin Valley of California during the 2013 season as a result of additional acreage coming into the program, according to Atomic Torosian, a partner in the company.

“Crown Jewels has picked up a little bit more acreage than we had last year,” Torosian said. “We are expecting to pick, pack and ship somewhere around a million-and-a-half boxes of grapes. It should be a full season.”