Weather worries: Cold and rain prompt a deluge of concerns

Issue Date: April 5, 2006

Sacramento Valley rice fields are too wet to allow equipment in for land preparation work.

By Steve Adler and Kate Campbell

Continuous rain in California has caused serious planting delays for major crops like cotton, rice and tomatoes and slowed the development of permanent crops like almonds, stone fruit and grapes. Some harvests are also being impacted by the storms.

Besides the direct impact on specific crops, the delays are creating problems for other agricultural segments, including farm laborers who are unable to work the fields and aerial applicators who are standing by as rice growers wait for their fields to dry out enough for them to be prepared for planting.

The National Weather Service said there was a record 20 days of rain in the Sacramento Valley in March, although not record rainfall amounts. The forecast statewide is for several more days of rain.

When temperatures warm up, there is concern about fungal diseases in orchards and vineyards. Fungicides have been applied to several crops in recent weeks whenever conditions allowed growers to get into their fields.

In Northern California, pest control advisor Gary Silveria said fungal pressures exist with many crops.

"Obviously there are more fungicides needed right now because of the rains, especially in almonds and now we have prunes and peaches blooming, so we have to be cautious," he said. "Plus, grapes are starting to pop right now. You have to get your program sprays on the grapes just to stay ahead."

Silveria added that alfalfa and wheat are getting their share of moisture and unfortunately are becoming stressed as a result.

"When we do treatments to those crops, we are looking at throwing in some kind of nutrient just to help them out," Silveria said. "Wheat is actually experiencing some rust right now."

Silveria said last year growers experienced some of these fungal problems due to wet weather, but "not to this extent and not this late."

In the Fresno area, pest control advisor Rick Foell said table, raisin and winegrapes are all vulnerable.

"Grapes right now are at the most critical stage. A lot of grapes right now, if they become heavily diseased, they could lose their bloom and their cane and basically there is no crop," Foell said.

Surveying the grapevines in the Fresno area, Foell said they are cold, wet and not getting the appropriate nutrients.

"I'm driving down the road looking at a lot of the grapevines and they are all bright yellow. That is not the color you want to see right now," he said.

Foell recommends that growers treat and treat often with fungicides.

"It is a challenge for the growers because they are dodging the storms, but it is kind of like raising a little kid--?if you don't get them started eating right, they are not going to grow up right. It is the same with the grapes," Foell said.

Barry Bedwell, president of the California Grape and Tree Fruit League, said the relentless rain during the past month has postponed the start of the season for tree crop farmers by 10 days to two weeks.

"After a very warm February, we thought we'd have an early spring," Bedwell said. "But, with the wet and cold in March, our expectations for an early start to orchard work have now changed to a late start."

He said concern is growing from a number of perspectives--?increased costs, the possibility of reduced yields, delayed start to the season and difficulty getting workers, as well as missed marketing opportunities.

"Our growers are saying, 'Mother Nature has been good to us, but enough is enough. Time to turn off the faucet!'" Bedwell said.

Rich Hudgins, president of the California Canning Peach Association, said that growers in the Yuba-Sutter area are concerned about possible root rot. It won't be known for certain for several weeks, but growers are concerned because some orchards have standing water and the rain continues to fall.

Apricot growers in the Central Valley also will have to wait another couple of weeks to discover the true impact of this weather on their crop, said Bill Ferreira, president of the Apricot Producers of California.

"There's no question that continued rain and cold during this period is not helping the crop," he said. "The weather has been especially uncooperative for the state's tree fruit growers. First, the mild winter put many orchards at risk of not getting the adequate chilling hours needed for normal bud development. Now the cold, wet spring is prolonging bloom and further delaying fruit development.

"The fruit has kind of sat there," Ferreira said. "Because the trees have been so slow to respond, we still don't quite know yet what we may have out there in the orchards."

Colusa County rice grower Randy Johnson said rice plantings have been greatly affected by this latest series of storms.

"Typically the northern and western side of the Sacramento Valley enjoys a head start in ground prep and planting over other areas of the valley," Johnson said. "My son and I drove up I-5 to Willows and were amazed at the amount of water and its depth out in the fields. Usually this time of the year in this part of the valley, tractors are everywhere preparing the fields for planting."

Due to the delay, growers are now faced with the decision of switching from longer maturing varieties, which earn a premium in price for their extra expense and risk potential.

Another challenge for growers is the need to hold onto their labor force during these delays. Like most farmers who have been impacted by the storms, Biggs rice grower Ken Collins said he is trying to keep workers busy with various jobs around the farm so he'll have the help he needs when it is time to prep fields and start planting.

Mark Bagby with the cotton cooperative Calcot in Bakersfield said cotton farmers are on idle.

"They're sitting, waiting for it to stop raining and warm up. People aren't overly concerned right now, but timing is everything and there's concern about getting the crop in.

"They're also looking at temperatures as much as they're looking at the rain," Bagby said. "Warmer storms are less problematic. But you still run into problems trying to get into the field because the ground is too wet. Right now we have both problems--?it's too cold and too wet."

Bagby said San Joaquin Valley growers usually plant about 630,000 acres of cotton, with planting allowed after March 10. Generally pima is planted first because it has a longer growing season.

"The weather is giving growers a wait-and-see attitude," he said. "If they were planning to plant pima, they may be rethinking that because we've lost a couple of weeks in the planting window."

He said growers want to have all their pima in the ground by April 15. Acala and upland varieties can still be planted for a couple of weeks after that. He said the ideal growing conditions for cotton are a warm, dry spring, a moderately hot summer and a long, open fall harvest.

"Everything after that means making things work as best you can," Bagby said. "Sometimes temperature differences can be made up during the season, but not always. We had similar planting conditions last year and it affected the state cotton yield by 15 percent to 20 percent, compared to the year before that."

A prospective planting report released last week by the California Field Office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service projected a 28 percent increase in pima acreage to 290,000 acres. That report, however, did not take weather conditions into account.

Tom Ramme, manager of the Processing Tomato Advisory Board, characterizes the rain as too much of a good thing.

"I've spoken with people in the industry recently and find growers are way behind in their planting in the north, as much as two to three weeks. We hear that just a few acres have been planted so far," he said.

In the San Joaquin Valley, processing tomato farmers are pretty much on time and on schedule, Ramme said. Statewide about 300,000 acres are planted to processing tomatoes, and the state agricultural statistics service expects about 11.6 million tons will be harvested this crop year.

"I think we will see disease problems caused by the weather, similar to what we had last year," Ramme said. "Conditions this spring appear to be similar. There was a lot of blight and spotted wilt. Cold, wet springs will increase disease pressure and that in turn affects yields.

"Growers are anxious to get in and plant, but the fields are just too wet right now," he said. "The whole state is backed up and farmers are sitting around pulling their hair out."

With more than 620,000 acres of almonds statewide, almond growers are also concerned.

Dave Baker, director of member relations for Blue Diamond, said, "The thing we worry about most is that the wet, cool weather has kept the soil saturated. When the tree sets a crop and, if we go to 80-degree weather very rapidly, then it puts a lot of stress on the tree to maintain the crop it's holding.

"Wet soggy soil, especially in Northern California, diminishes the oxygen flow to the tree," Baker said. "If it gets too hot, too fast the trees may drop some of their crop. We're worried about that. Remember that we've been really wet. Not only has it been raining, it also has been cold and many Northern California orchards have been running sprinkler systems for frost protection. That added the equivalent of another 5 inches of water to the already large amount of rainfall."

Baker said at the present time Blue Diamond is cautiously optimistic that the state has the potential for a good almond crop, but the longer it rains and stays cold the greater the risk of diminished almond yields this crop year.

The wet conditions are not good news for wheat farmers, either. More fields are showing signs of striped rust. Farm advisors said the first visible symptoms of infection usually can be seen from the road as bright yellow circular patches in the field.

"Walking out into the field, striped rust pustules can be seen on many of the lower leaves," said Jerry Schmierer, UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor in Colusa County. "My advice to growers and pest control advisors is to stop the pickup, put on the rubber boots and go out into the field and do a close inspection of the yellow patches."

Wheat planted in December appears to have a healthy start on delivering good grain yield, crop experts say, barring any new rust mutations.

"I observed several hot spots and more extensive areas of stripe rust infection in several wheat fields in Yolo County," said Lee Jackson, UC Cooperative Extension agronomist. "The disease is becoming more widespread. Growers who intend to treat fields should consider doing so now."

The California Agricultural Statistics Service forecasts that winter wheat plantings are estimated at 430,000 acres, 13 percent below last year. Another 70,000 acres have been seeded to Durum wheat, 7 percent below 2005.

Meanwhile, Cher Watte, executive director of the California Asparagus Commission, said asparagus growers in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta were harvesting in between storms. Thus far the rain had not created too much slime, but the cold weather was not helping the asparagus grow. Until the temperatures warm up, asparagus production will be spotty, she said.

Sierra snow pack already is more than 125 percent of normal. State water experts say water supply conditions now look so positive that State Water Project allocations have been increased to provide contractors with 80 percent of their requests.

"With this kind of snowpack, it's likely that deliveries could increase," said Don Strickland, a spokesman for the Department of Water Resources, "They could very well kick it up to 90 percent within a month or two, depending on what happens with the weather."

The 29 agencies that have long-term contracts for State Water Project supplies serve more than 23 million Californians and irrigate about 750,000 acres.

(Steve Adler is executive editor of Ag Alert. He may be contacted at sadler@cfbf.com. Kate Campbell is a reporter for Ag Alert. She may be contacted at kcampbell@cfbf.com.)

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