Farmer ordered to destroy his orchard after giving away thousands of pounds of free fruit
A California farmer has been ordered to destroy his fruit orchard after giving away thousands of pounds of free food.
Cesar Mora has been locked in a court battle with Giumarra Brothers Fruit Company over the past three years, after the firm accused him of breaking his contract and selling to another buyer.
Amid the battle, Mora chose to give away the nectarines he had grown instead of leaving them to rot.
However, on August 13, a jury at Fresno County Superior Court ruled that the Central Valley farmer did break his contract, although Giumarra was awarded no damages, according to documents obtained by the Fresno Bee.
Mora revealed in a video posted to TikTok that a judge had ruled that his trees had to be destroyed before the trial even began.
“There’s going to be more to come,” he said in the video. “Boy, they’re not gonna take the trees out easily.”
Speaking to the Fresno Bee, Mora said that he is not sure if he will continue farming following the ruling.
“This isn’t going to destroy me, but I’ll tell you this, I’m not going to farm anymore,” he said. “I can’t farm in an industry where a company can treat their growers this way and literally use the legal system to punish them.”
Meanwhile, John Migliazzo, one of the fruit company’s attorneys, praised the jury’s decision.
“The judge had already determined that Giumarra Brothers had exclusive licensing rights over the Monalise white-flesh nectarine, and today the jury validated Giumarra’s position,” Migliazzo told the newspaper. “Giumarra Brothers did nothing wrong.”
Much of the case centered around the Monalise white nectarine.
Giumarra claimed that all rights to the fruit are owned by French firm Star Fruits Diffusion. However, Giumarra stated that it holds the sublicense to produce and sell the variety, according to court documents seen by The Associated Press.
Mora signed a sublicensing agreement with Giumarra in 2017 to grow and sell the fruit. Two years later, Mora signed a marketing agreement with the company, which mandated that the fruit must be packaged and sold via Giumarra.
However, according to documents seen by the publication, Mora says that around half of the nectarines provided to Giumarra by him in 2020 were thrown away. That, he alleged, cut into his profits.
Giumarra sued Mora back in 2023, alleging that he sold his nectarines to another fruit packer.
In June 2026, Mora went viral after offering locals the chance to pick his nectarines for free since he was unable to sell them.
“Not to lose my entire year’s hard work, I’m going to give it out to the Central Valley and whoever would like to take any of it,” he said in a TikTok video.
According to the campaign’s website, over 182,000 pounds of nectarines were picked by community members, with over 6,000 people visiting the orchard over a week.
The huge effort followed a “frustrating” harvest in 2025, where he had to watch his fruit go unsold.
“Last year all of it ended up on the ground,” he told KMPH. “Every step I would take, I’d hear a piece of fruit drop on the ground. Just hear ‘thump, thump.’ It was just really, really frustrating.”
The Independent has contacted Mora and Giumarra for comment.
