A desert crop with its own rules
Dates are the county's second-largest commodity at $145.4 million in 2024. Growers and packers in the valley work alongside irrigation farms, table grapes and vegetables. ZIP codes in the valley include 92201, 92203, 92236, 92254 and 92274.
Organic certification adds a layer. A grower with an organic program has to document what touches the crop or the water, and a tote with an unknown history cannot be documented. The food-grade history guide is the place to start.
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Share of US dates | Close to 90% |
| Riverside County date acres, 2023 | 9,600 |
| Share certified organic, 2023 | About 78% |
| County value, 2024 | $145.4 million |
Sun is the enemy of the bottle
A tote that sits in a Coachella Valley yard in July is chalking quickly. The desert sun guide explains the signs and the fix: cover it, shade it, check it every season. A cover also keeps algae out of irrigation water, which matters for emitter life in a drip line.
When a tote has chalked, the grader marks it for rebottling. A rebottled tote puts a new bottle in a sound cage, and in the desert that is often the sensible repair.
Dates and the request
Say whether the use is irrigation, washing or packing, whether the program is organic and where the totes will sit. The date growers page lists the full set.
Date growers and packers
Dates are Riverside County's second-largest commodity, and the valley's growers and packers work with irrigation, washing and organic paperwork. A grower irrigating a block wants a covered tote with clean history and a filter. A packer wants totes that touch the process and keep a record.
Strong sun chalks an uncovered bottle, so say how long the totes have stood outdoors. The date growers page covers the full set.
Water paths and certifiers
An organic certifier asks what touches the crop and the water. Keep the tote's history file beside the farm's other records, and cover every tote on the water line so that algae and sun damage do not become a second question.
Trades named in the public sources
The sources behind this page: aramcoworld.com, agalert.com, read on 2026-11-11. A trade on this list is a reason a site there might buy, sell or clear IBC totes; it does not say any particular firm does.
- Date growing and packing
- Table grapes and vegetables
- Irrigation
Questions people ask
How much of the US date crop comes from the Coachella Valley?
Close to 90 percent.
Does sun damage totes here?
Yes. Cover or shade them; chalky bottles are retired.
Sources. Last reviewed 2026-11-11.