Soggy Weather Threatens Crops In California Farmers Worry About Damage From Storms Spawned By El Nino

If El Nino-fed storms keep pounding California, farmers won’t be able to plant vegetables on time and bees won’t pollinate fruit and nut blossoms properly.

So far, the February storms have caused only minor damage to the state’s $24.5 billion agribusiness industry. But growers worry about a National Weather Service prediction that rain will keep falling off and on all spring in a state where the sun usually shines pretty steadily after March.

“If this keeps up and keeps growers from planting vegetable crops or corn for dairies, it could have a ripple effect through the entire agriculture economy,” nurseryman Bob Driver of Modesto said Wednesday.

The most immediate concern is for almonds, a $1 billion crop. Trees blooming right now are ready for bees to pollinate, but when it rains the bees huddle in their hives.

The sky was clear Wednesday. “We need two more weeks like this to pollinate all varieties,” Driver said.

However, there was a threat of rain today and more storms were lined up across the Pacific.

Lettuce growers in the Salinas Valley, dubbed the nation’s Salad Bowl, also need relief because continued heavy rain will disrupt planting schedules, says Michael Boggiatto, who harvests and markets for lettuce growers.

“As rains continue, and ground continues to be too wet to work up and plant, there’s a possibility that there may be some gaps in production,” Boggiatto said.

Anticipating shortages in California’s $735 million crop, some farmers in Arizona and New Mexico already have switched to growing lettuce.

Southern California strawberries have been hit hardest by the rain, suffering $10.7 million damage, according to state Department of Food and Agriculture statistics. But those growers expect rain this time of year and lay out their fields with good drainage, said Theresa Thorne of the California Strawberry Commission.

The statewide loss for all crops has reached $65.6 million, far below the $748.6 million damage caused by a pair of brutal storms in 1995 and $245 million from extensive flooding last winter around New Year’s Day.