Overview

Other Links

• Background on the Olive Industry, Ag Marketing Resource Center, Iowa State University, November 2005 - Olives originated in Spain, Tunisia, Morocco and other Mediterranean countries. In the 1700s, Franciscan monks brought olive trees to Mexico and then to California when they established the California missions.
• California Olive Reports
• The Economics of Extra Virgin Olive Oil: A North American Perspective, DELIZIA Brand Olive Oil Company, Oakland, California - The economics of extra virgin olive oil is a broad and extremely complex subject. Factors that effect this market include: The European subsidy to European Union farmers, the relatively high demand for and sale of refined olive oil, the foreign exchange rate, labor, land values, production cost, world wide crop production, marketing subsidies, worldwide consumption, carry over from the previous year, mother nature and good old-fashioned politics, to list a few. The paper is a brief discussion of olive oil economics highlights the core elements that affect the actual cost of producing high-quality olive oil.
• International Olive Growers Council - This Web site presents the steps taken to increase the returns obtained from olives, the source of income for over seven million families around the world, as well as the measures taken to raise product quality and to find new markets. 

• Olivebusiness.com - Australian olive industry site. Salsi Pty Ltd is a family-owned company incorporated in Australia. The company's interests cover a range of activities in the food production and marketing, publishing, Internet and learning industries. Salsi Pty Ltd, P.O. Box 70, Ascot Vale, Victoria, 3032, Australia.

• Olive Growers Council of California - The Olive Growers Council was organized as a bargaining cooperative. It entered the California scene as the only organization with the mission of trying to improve prices paid to farmers. The bargaining association has impacted the olive industry in a positive way as prices have moved up significantly since organized in 1978-79.  The Olive Growers Council, 121 E. Main Street, Suite 2, Visalia, CA, 93291; 559-734-1710.
• The Olive Industry, Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation, Australia, 1997 - "Handbook" on olive marketing and production. Contact davies.gerry@pi.sa.gov.au or sweeney.susan@pi.sa.gov.au.
• Olive Oil: "A Rediscovered" California Crop, University of California Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics, ARE Update, Vol. 8, No. 5, May/June 2005.
• Olive Production Manual, 2nd Edition, University of California, ANR Publication No. 3353 (ISBN 1-879906-14-7), 2005, $35 - First released in 1994, this manual quickly became a bestseller as the definitive guide to olive production in California. Now it is completely revised and updated. The second edition contains new and expanded information on pollination, pruning for shaker and vertical rotating comb harvest, mechanical pruning, deficit irrigation, mechanical harvesting methods including trunk shaking and canopy contact harvesters, postharvest handling and processing methods, and olive oil production. Also includes information on new pests including olive fly, oleander scale, olive mite and black vine weevil.
• Olives, University of California-Davis Cooperative Extension - This Web site provides support to the California olive oil and table olive industry.
• Organic Olive Production Manual, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Pub. No. 3505, Available at http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/InOrder/Shop/Shop.asp or 1-800-994-8849, $18.00 - This manual by Paul Vossen provides detailed information for growers on production issues, plant nutrition, economics, pest and weed control, management of olive wastes, the conversion process and organic certification and registration. The manual was developed as a supplement to the Olive Production Manual, 2nd Edition, (3353). Organic growers are advised to consult both publications as they develop and refine their production systems.
• USDA NAS Statistics, http://www.usda.gov/nass/pubs/estindx2.htm - Agricultural Statistics Board reports that estimate agricultural commodity production and related items. Listing is by commodity and respective report by month of issue. Phone the National Agricultural Statistics Hotline at 800-727-9540 or 202-720-3878; e-mail nass@nass.usda.gov.