Tomatoes could attact mildew, but wet weather helps grass for
cattle
The recent earlier-than-normal rainfall has delayed the harvest
of some crops and could adversely affect some local agricultural
commodities, San Benito County Agriculture Commissioner Ronald Ross
said.
Tomatoes could attact mildew, but wet weather helps grass for cattle
The recent earlier-than-normal rainfall has delayed the harvest of some crops and could adversely affect some local agricultural commodities, San Benito County Agriculture Commissioner Ronald Ross said.
“Because of the cool summer, the harvest for several commodities has been delayed and the rain has impacted the harvest,” he said. “The biggest impact has been on the tomato crop. The harvest just started here, so the rain is a real issue with the harvesting.”
Precipitation can leave mildew on plants and the wet ground can limit harvesting machines’ ability to get into fields to collect the crop. Knowing the rain was on the way, many farmers applied fungicide to their fields to protect the crop from mildew, Ross noted.
“So they received partial protection,” he said, adding that approximately 2,000 acres of canning and fresh market tomatoes are grown in San Benito County.
The longer-term impact on a crop is dependent on the weather conditions after the rain.
“If it stays windy and cool, it’s OK, but if it should turn warm, it can accelerate the growth of mold and mildew,” Ross said. “It’s a concern, but it’s not known at this point how the conditions will affect the crop. It would have been best if it didn’t rain.”
The local wine grape harvest could also feel the impact of the autumn rain, Ross said.
“At this point it’s a little too early to tell the effects the rain will have,” he said. “Any rain at this time of year, especially when we’ve had a cool summer (that delays the harvest) is going to have an impact.”
The recent wet weather was not all negative news for ranchers, however.
“On the positive side, I’ve heard that some places in South County received almost and inch-and-a-half of rain, which will be good to get the grass started this season for livestock,” he said.
This year’s cooler-than-normal weather has meant a longer time between harvests, particularly for lettuce crops, Ross said. Prior to the recent rain, the weather has not caused much, if any, damage.
Last week’s rain, which poured on the coast and valleys and dumped snow in the Sierra, was “a bit early, but not unheard of,” said forecaster Diana Henderson of the National Weather Service in Monterey.
The early rain does not necessarily portend a wet winter, according to climatologists.
The weather service predicts a 33.3 percent chance that this winter will bring above average rainfall to the San Francisco Bay Area. The odds are the same that it will be drier than normal or average, rainfall-wise.
This year is expected to be a weak La Nina season, as it was in 2001, when the rainfall totals were below normal, according to Jan Null, a meteorologist with Golden Gate Weather Services. The La Nina prior to that, in 1996, brought with it a rainier-than-normal season.
Pinnacle wire services contributed to this report.
