Rain-soaked hay and grapes pose challenges for Fresno State farm

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The caller tempest brought much-needed rainfall to the Valley, but it besides created challenges for Fresno State's workplace operations.

Hay bales that were covered earlier the tempest stay successful bully condition. However, those near exposed to the rainfall were soaked, raising concerns astir mold and provender quality.

"We'll ticker them implicit the adjacent week and a half," said Fresno State Farm Manager Rob Willmott. "If they don't adust out, past we'll peel those layers off."

Willmott demonstrated however heavy the rainfall penetrated into the bales, which is astir 3 inches, and explained however mold detection is often done by smell.

"You tin usually odor mold successful a bale. I can. Right present I don't odor it," helium said.

Moldy hay poses a hazard to livestock, which volition garbage to devour provender that smells off.

"That's what they devour each day, truthful they tin decidedly odor it if it's connected there," Willmott added.

Any wheat hay that begins to spoil volition beryllium moved to a compost pile.

The tempest besides impacted Fresno State's winegrape harvest. Crews managed to prime the champion of the zinfandel and petite syrah varieties for the field winery, but astir fractional of the harvest was mislaid owed to h2o damage.

"Unfortunately, the grapes down maine astir apt volition spell by the wayside," Willmott said, pointing to bunches showing signs of rot and mildew. "At first, you don't deliberation it's a problem, but past it heats up similar this. That's going to accelerate the rot and the mildew."

Before the rainfall arrived, crews rushed to harvest vino grapes and array grapes, and to cod almonds and raisins.

"We scurried implicit there, had to get those raisins up and nether screen arsenic well," Willmott said.

The raisins volition beryllium enactment backmost retired to decorativeness drying erstwhile conditions improve.

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