USA - Berries cooked in heat wave, farmers struggling

09.07.2021 1058 views
Last week's devastating heat wave caused damage throughout the Pacific Northwest. Aside from the immediate health impacts, agriculture businesses suffered big losses because of wilting crops. As last week's heatwave sent temperatures in the triple digits raspberries and blueberries took an especially hard hit. The berries literally baking on the vine. Jiwan Brar estimates his family lost about 20% of their crop at the worst possible time -- just one week away from harvest. "I've never seen such a good growing year," Brar said. "This has been one of the best growing year's we've had. Last week out of nowhere this heat just really cooked everything." The brar family measured the internal temperature of a blueberry on their farm to be over 120-degrees at the height of the heat wave. Analysts say some farms lost 80% of their berries and may not survive without some kind of governmental help. Source - https://kvoa.com
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