Hot weather damaging Central Coast crops
All the hot weather in recent days has taken a toll on some of the crops on the Central Coast, and it could be hitting you in the pocket book at the grocery store.
At Del’s Farmers Produce on North Main Street in Salinas, they sell all sorts of locally grown fruits and vegetables. But the recent rain storm and two days of scorching hot temperatures have damaged some strawberry and cherry crops.
“This season is going to be short on the cherries, it’s damaged. The strawberries too,” said Elida Lopez, who works at Del’s Farmers Produce.
The heat ripens strawberries quicker than normal, making them harder to transport and sell. Farmers are also seeing what is known as “bronzing” in strawberry crops that are close to being harvested.
That is when sun rays damage the fruit, even to the point of blistering.
“What growers are doing right now if they are seeing sun damage is they are stripping the plants of the berries,” said Abby Taylor-Silva, a vice president at the Grower Shipper Association of Central California.
That was also done a couple of weeks ago during rain storms. Excessive water can lead to mold and other damage. The GSACC, which represents about 300 companies over four Central Coast counties, does not know the extent of the weather’s impact exactly.
But produce sellers know how it is affecting them.
“There’s not much fruit like cherries compared to last year, there was a lot of demand and a lot of product, but not right now,” said Lopez.
With less to sell, the prices go up. Shoppers say that is just part of the deal with more unusual weather.
“Yeah, it’s unfortunate it’s probably doing some damage to the crops and prices are gonna go up,” said Kathy Hicks, a Salinas resident. “Summer is the time when we all like to eat all the fresh fruits and stuff, so hopefully it’ll cool down.”
But this is only a temporary situation they say. The strawberry season is far from over.
“Although it might affect supplies for the short term, our strawberries continue to produce for the next few months until the fall,” said Taylor-Silva.
The GSACC will get a better grasp of how much damage was done in the next few days as harvesting crews begin picking more fruit.
