On Friday, March 10, the floor of the Salinas Valley received nearly three inches of rain, while as much as six inches fell in the mountains on both sides of the valley. Additional rains were forecast in the Salinas Valley on March 13 and 14.
Changes in the climate system become larger in direct relation to increasing global warming, and increasing heat stress will trigger extreme weather across parts of India and crop damage, according to experts and meteorologists.
The recent back-to-back storms are hitting California's critical agricultural regions, and they may also impact the U.S. food supply.Supervisor Luis Alejo from Monterey County said, "The pain is going to be prolonged for many weeks and months. This should have been the beginning of the harvest season."
The sudden return to bitter temperatures is taking a toll on area crops and plants, especially the more vulnerable ones, like peaches.Howard Taylor, the owner of KT's Orchard and Apiary in Canton, said the bitter cold in the past week has taken about a 40% hit on his peach crop.
More than 200 people have been confirmed killed by Cyclone Freddy, which tore through southern Malawi for a second time on Monday, washing away homes, roads, and farmers’ fields.Grace Joseph, in the tea-growing district of Thyolo, was one of the storm’s victims. Her maize crop was looking good this season.
This year, the unusual frosts in the Vega Baja have ruined crops in the Guadalentin valley. This, however, was not the case for artichoke, as its price has increased by 150% since last November when the season began.
Ag growers and shippers in affected parts of California are taking stock following late last week and the weekend’s rains, and the ones still coming.The Central Coast particularly has seen significant rain and cooler-than-normal temperatures over the past several weeks, and another atmospheric river is forecast to bring heavy rain and wind through Wednesday.
When frigid temperatures hit the region around Christmas, most of us bundled up. By February, we had nearly forgotten about those temperatures. For one small group of Southern Illinoisans, those frigid temperatures could change their business outlook.
After a slowdown in Moroccan soft fruit exports at the end of 2022 due to inflation in Europe which disrupted consumer behavior, the cold snap in Morocco in early 2023 dealt another blow to producers.
Some local growers may be getting too much of a good thing. The rain hitting California has been mostly positive for farmers, but they are still seeing some negative impacts brought on by the storms.
Drought and erratic rainfall patterns in Nakuru caused by climate change have drastically affected potato production and food security in Molo Sub-County leaving most small holder farmers reeling in huge losses.
As still more stormsdumped new snow onto California’s burgeoning snowpack, water managers, farmers and environmentalists gathered in Sacramento to discuss long-term challenges to secure a more certain water future.
The strong supplies of Florida strawberries could slow down soon. “It has been a good high-priced season until about when the Valentine’s Day pull ends around February 9-10. Then the brakes hit just as the volume comes up.
Unusually warm weather for March has set in Moldova since the beginning of this week. In the south of the country, the temperature maximum during the day approaches +15-17 degrees Celsius, which is 10-12 degrees above the average climatic norm.
The Catalan fruit sector is increasingly present in the international market, with Catalonia already exporting fruit to 114 countries around the world. Last year was marked by a difficult climate for sweet fruit, which accounts for the bulk of the Catalan production.
The Valencian Association of Farmers (AVA-ASAJA) calls for extreme control measures to stop the advance of theScirtothrips aurantiiquarantine pest, which has expanded both geographically and in the number of crops it's affecting since it was detected in Spain in 2020.