The idea for this article came about from reading a piece by James Havers in Yahoo! Finance. In the article titled “California Farmer Watches in Pain as Local Winery Dumps Truckloads of His Grapes: Why His Only Customer Rejected Him”, published on Monday, October 20, 2025, Havers wrote the following:
“Brandon Sywassink felt pain as his crop was dumped out. When Brandon Sywassink pulled into a Lodi Winery in Lodi, California, USA, with truckloads of freshly picked grapes, he thought he was delivering a year’s worth of work. It was the culmination of months spent pruning, watering and praying for good weather. Instead, he was told to dump them. Manna Ranch, had a handful of grapes, as he claimed, “handful truckloads of grapes that were rejected at the winery for low brix,” according to Sywassink, the general manager of Manna Ranch in San Joaquin County. In the wine world, ‘brix’ measures the sugar content of grapes. The higher the ‘brix’ level, the richer and higher sucrose content and the more alcoholic the wine is and the more the value of the grapes. His contract required 24 percent brix, but his crop measured 23.9 percent, barely missing the mark by 0.1 percent! That 0.1 percent shortfall was enough to erase an entire year’s income!
“It hurts a lot just to watch it,” Sywassink said. “Farmers get a paycheck once a year and we didn’t get a paycheck that day.” The 25 tonnes of grapes, worth between $10,000 and $15,000, were dumped into a nearby field to rot. The Lodi Winegrape Commission says stories like Sywassink’s are becoming more common as California growers face tighter quality requirements from the large wineries that dominate the industry. “They’re being held to very difficult standards,” Stuart Spencer, the commission’s executive director said. That is what monopoly and monopsony do since they are in control. “Simultaneously, these same wineries are bringing in millions of gallons of wine produced from overseas instead of purchasing the local grapes.” The combination of strict domestic standards and cheap foreign imports are squeezing smaller producers like Sywassink, who depend on a single buyer to make their living. “They are just at the total mercy of these large companies,” Spencer said. “We have to put in place some sort of code of conduct that makes it an equal partnership because right now, the growers have no choice.”
Farming was never easy money, but it is getting harder. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that net farm income fell about 23 percent in 2024, while input costs like fertilizer (up 37%), seed (up 18%), and fuel (up 32%) have soared since 2020. Unlike most workers, farmers often rely on one annual payout, and if a crop is rejected there is no second chance until the following season. The mild summer, that softened Sywassink’s grapes, is part of a growing challenge: climate volatility. It is not just droughts or wildfires, even subtle shifts in humidity, sunlight or rainfall can alter a crop’s chemistry and throw off years of hard-work. Many small growers in California sell exclusively to one or two wineries under long-term contracts. That relationship offers stability. The buyer usually decides everything: the harvest window, delivery schedule, and quality standards in any ‘monopsony’ involving one buyer and many sellers. If the product does not meet the buyer’s specifications – even by a fraction – the seller can lose the sale and absorb the loss.
In theory, rejected grapes can be sold to juice or vinegar producers, but after trucking and processing fees, the economics often do not work. It is calamitous to lose a year paycheck for any business organisation, especially a farm. The lesson here is not just agricultural – it is financial risk management. Manna Ranch’s experience underscores the importance of risk assessment, diversification, preparation for uncertainty especially insurance, and awareness of climate risk.
This story is a lesson that applies to anyone managing money or investments. It is better to adhere to the following instructions:
- Do not rely on a single source of income: Business owners depending on one buyer or customer face the same risk as freelancers or farmers with one client. Build multiple revenue streams or a processing factory that can preserve your product and earn you considerable value for your rejected products if you can.
- Insure your business against loss of income: Crop insurance through the USDA Risk Management Agency can help offset losses from weather or rejected harvests. For other workers, that means disability and loss of income. Business insurance and alternative disposal channels are tools that keep you solvent when life changes course to the other way.
- Investors must research adequately about risk: For anyone investing in agribusiness stocks, farmland Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), or crop insurance Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) or any manufacturing business at that, this story is a reminder that climate risk is not just about drought or wildfires. Subtle changes in temperature or rainfall timing can reshape entire industries, and affect the profit margins.
- Reassess regional exposure: Different regions have different business threats. As regions like California’s Central Valley face tighter climate tolerances, farmland investors may need to rethink valuations and growth projections. Land that once looked stable may become riskier as businesses struggle to meet contract specs.
- Support local supply chains: Consumers can play a part, too. When you pick up a bottle of wine labelled ‘Made in Nigeria’ or ‘Bottled in Nigeria’, you are supporting local growers and helping prevent capital fights, and keeping your naira in Nigerian communities. As we have “ethical manufacturers of goods and products, we can also have “loyal customers”.
Despite losing his crop, Sywassink says he is not walking away. He plans to try again next year. A lot of businessmen and women have got to walk away because of a great fall after depending solely on a customer. Resilient businesses do not depend on one source of product distribution. This is the way businesses are wired. Suppliers of products in a monopsony cannot make super-profit which is a seasonal jackpot and on which most businesses depend to grow. The way to build a resilient business is to have two or three customers or evolve a way of preserving one’s products for another season. In today’s global business environment, one bad transaction can mean the end of business and that is why business men must have an escape route to cushion the calamitous effects of unforeseen circumstances. Having multiple distribution channels is a good escape route!
Olufemi Adedamola Oyedele, MPhil. in Construction Management, managing director/CEO, Fame Oyster & Co. Nigeria, is an expert in real estate investment, a registered estate surveyor and valuer, and an experienced construction project manager. He can be reached on +2348137564200 (text only) or femoyede@gmail.com
