Late summer rain creates costly headaches for Fresno County raisin farmers

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – As parts of the Central Valley were deed by immoderate unseasonal precocious summertime rain, immoderate successful agriculture felt large impacts, adjacent with a comparatively debased magnitude falling.

For some, rainfall tin beryllium a invited show astatine this clip of year. For others, similar vale raisin growers successful the mediate of harvest, it tin beryllium a disaster.

"There are tons of radical that are having atrocious days today. So, springiness them their space. Let them, you know, grip their concern arsenic appropriately arsenic they can. But there's tons of upset radical today," said Steven Cardoza, proprietor of Cardoza & Cardoza Farming Company successful Fresno County.

In aboriginal September, Cardoza had been successful the midst of 105-degree heat, a situation connected its own. This week, the latest situation is rain, a harvest information helium says helium was narrowly capable to avoid.

"I've been paranoid for the past fewer days with this upwind and these temperatures that we were going to get immoderate signifier of precipitation," Cardoza said. "So we've been scrambling to get everything retired of the tract arsenic accelerated arsenic humanly possible. Luckily, we made it. Last night, we got everything retired of the tract and into the barn."

However, immoderate of the farms astir Cardoza's country could beryllium seen aft the rainfall with raisins near out. With the ample drops seen by many, Cardoza says the harm could beryllium high, particularly successful the harvest.

"There's ever a airy furniture of particulate and erstwhile the raisins person a small particulate connected apical of them and they get rained on, it feels similar a gentle drizzle to us, but it feels similar high-velocity rainfall drops hitting those berries and they'll battalion soil into them," helium said.

The Raisin Bargaining Association says it tin instrumentality 1 to 2 days to find if harm was done. If so, they counsel farmers to interaction their insurance. For those without insurance, Cardoza says the costs tin beryllium precocious with fees to benignant retired the mislaid fruit.

"If you commencement with 10 tons and you person a reconditioning interest per ton, you're going to wage a interest connected the 10, and past you're going to beryllium near implicit with similar 7 tons. So, you're going to suffer fruit, and you're going to wage costs connected effect that's present successful the trash can," helium said.

Cardoza besides has raisins that people adust connected the vine, but with the vulnerability to rain, helium said it tin widen the drying play by weeks - weeks that could perchance enactment the grapes successful harm's mode with much bedewed upwind coming aboriginal successful the year.

Now, Cardoza says they are conscionable hoping to decorativeness the play dry, to debar large impacts connected the remainder of the autumn raisin harvest.