A judge ordered Cesar Mora to destroy his nectarine trees after his two-week trial with Giumarra Brothers Fruit Company ended in another loss for the Reedley farmer.
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Fresno County Superior Court Judge Jon Skiles issued the oral ruling on Aug. 29, ordering removal of Mora’s trees, according to court records and local reports. The decision came just before the trial’s conclusion on Thursday, delivering yet another blow to the third-generation farmer who has been locked in litigation since 2023.
Mora, who grows fruit in California’s Central Valley agricultural community of Reedley, has been fighting Giumarra Brothers Fruit Co. Over exclusive rights to a white nectarine variety called “Monalise.” The company sued him for breach of contract after he sold his nectarines to another packer in 2023, seeking to terminate a relationship he alleges had become financially ruinous.
“They sold me hope and a big dream that I thought I could participate in with them,” Mora said in earlier interviews about the 2017 sublicensing agreement and 2019 marketing agreement that required him to pay $2.50 per tree in royalties plus 4% of gross sales.
The trial stretched across two weeks in Fresno County Superior Court, with Mora facing accusations that he violated his exclusive contract with Giumarra. The company claims all rights to the Monalise variety are owned by Star Fruits Diffusion, a French company, while Giumarra holds sublicensing rights for testing, production and sale.
“At its heart, this is a disagreement involving two written agreements, and it is being resolved the right way — in court and on the facts,” the company said in a statement emailed by one of its attorneys during the earlier phases of the dispute.
Mora has accused the company of unfair and fraudulent business practices, alleging in court filings that Giumarra threw away up to half his 2020 nectarine crop and sold his fruit to Taiwan in 2022 in violation of their contract limiting sales to the U.S. And Canada. The company has disputed these claims, and Judge Skiles found the statute of limitations had passed on some allegations.
The tree destruction order represents a devastating escalation for Mora, who told reporters before trial that losing his case could end his farming career. “If I lose, I will definitely be out of farming,” he said in interviews leading up to the proceedings.
In the viral moment that drew national attention this summer, Mora gave away more than 100,000 pounds of nectarines rather than watch them rot while court injunctions prevented him from selling the crop. Thousands of visitors flocked to his farm, with locals wearing “No Nectarines Wasted” T-shirts as they bagged free fruit alongside family members and volunteers. The giveaway, which eventually distributed an estimated 182,000 pounds of nectarines, also served as a fundraiser through a GoFundMe page that raised more than $17,000.
“It was really just a thought of not wasting a perfectly good product,” Mora said during the giveaway. “It does make a grower feel good, being able to share my fruit with people and see their immediate reaction that they love it. It’s a little bit of good in this tough situation that I’ve been dealing with.”
Mora also expressed deeper frustration about the toll of prolonged litigation on small farmers. “It’s been discouraging to even want to go out and farm,” he said. He has lost approximately a quarter of his income by being unable to sell his nectarine crop while the court battle played out, though he continues to grow peaches and plums not subject to Giumarra agreements.
“The only saving grace through all this is being able to share it with the public,” Mora said of his nectarines during the summer giveaway, “and having everybody enjoy it.”
Judge Skiles had previously ruled in May that Giumarra’s breach of contract claim could proceed regardless of whether a patent existed for the Monalise variety, finding the sublicense agreement’s validity did not depend on patent status.