Now they're in this period waiting until they can get crops in the ground," said Valadez. In some cases, farmers have had to put off planting as far back as January. READ MORE: Latest climate change news from USA TODAY How does climate change affect you?: Subscribe to the weekly Climate Point newsletter In the central part of the state and in the cool-weather farms around the Salinas area, head and leaf lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and strawberries have had a rough time. While the majority of acres are still able to produce, there are areas and crops that are being especially impacted. How does so much rain effect California agriculture? "The majority of crops are continuing to mature and will be available for harvest, so there will be a plentiful supply of fresh vegetables coming from 'the salad bowl,' as California's Salinas valley is sometimes called, said Valdez. Department of Agriculture's Crop Progress report for the week ending March 26, produce shelves won't be empty and prices won't be significantly higher in the coming weeks and months, said Gary Keough, director of USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service Pacific regional office in Sacramento. How have the drenching rains affected California's bounty? Will California's deluge affect prices at the grocery store?Īlthough California is a major source of U.S.-grown fruits and vegetables in the spring and summer, the crisp greens, ripe fruit and luscious berries we eat come from across the United States and as far away as south and central America.īecause of this, even though 60% of California's farmland had "surplus" water according to the U.S. That means difficulty for many of the state's 69,000 farms and the communities that depend on them. The state is an agricultural powerhouse, producing over a third of the country’s vegetables and three-quarters of its fruits and nuts. Now these eagles are becoming farm birds. There's no choice but to simply wait until things dry out.ĪGRICULTURE AND CLIMATE: Ancient farming practice makes a comeback as climate change puts pressure on cropsĬLIMATE NEWS: Climate change washed away bald eagles' food, research says. Tractors could either get stuck in the mud or create ruts or compressed soil in fields that might take years to recover. This sodden state is a reversal of last year's drought, California has been hit by an absurd amount of water over the winter, with more than a dozen atmospheric rivers pouring more than 78 trillion gallons of water on the state.Ĭity dwellers can reach for umbrellas but for farmers, too much rain can mean unplanted or washed out fields and unharvestable crops. You don't want a bunch of mud on the produce," said Christopher Valdez, president of the Grower-Shipper Association of Central California. "It's just too damn messy and muddy to create a quality pack. The planting timeline for lettuce keeps getting moved as fields stay drenched. Tomato growers have greenhouses bursting with seedlings but it's too wet to transplant them. SAN FRANCISCO – California and its plentiful farm fields are soaking wet.Īsparagus farmers can't get into fields to harvest the tender green stalks.
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