Harvest could be determined by upcoming weather

By WES SANDER

Capital Press

A cool summer has put most crops behind their anticipated schedules by roughly two weeks, growers and farm groups in California say.

"It will be the guys at the end of the season that will be at risk," said Barry Bedwell, president of the California Grape and Tree Fruit League. "If we wind up having an early rain, we could have some damage."

In the rice fields of the Sacramento Valley, crops could see impacts from the lack of heat that producers won't see until harvest, said Jim Morris, spokesman for the California Rice Commission.

Late rains and cool temperatures in spring delayed planting by seven to 10 days, and indications suggest harvest will run similarly late, Morris said.

If temperatures dip too low between now and harvest -- which normally goes from September into November -- farmers could see decreased yields from "blanking," when grains fail to mature.

"You don't know till you harvest it, and you see what your harvest looks like," Morris said. "There are just a lot of unknowns."

To the south near Dixon, Robben Ranch grows a variety of commodities for processing, from tomatoes and wheat to almonds and bell peppers. They're all behind schedule, said supervisor Spencer Bei.

"It makes difficulties when we're trying to target harvest dates," he said. "We should have been harvesting tomatoes right around the last week of July, and we started the third week in August."

Manuel Cunha of Nisei Farmers League said the delayed season could create labor difficulties. If autumn brings early rains, growers of various commodities may suddenly need workers to save crops, and that could create a crunch, he said.

For example, grapes may need the extra time to raise sugar content, pushing their harvest later along with other crops, Cunha said.

"So when you start looking at all the delays, that means more labor to be able to harvest a crop on time, he said."