Impacts of heavy downpour on Central Valley crops

TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Heavy rain across the Valley floor paired with pea-sized hail and thunderstorm warnings threatened the health of various crops over the weekend.

Tulare County Farmer David Borba says the storms had potential damage to blooming crops.

"The hail would've been a big problem. You see some of the bloom that's already out here. Even the crop that's already set," said Borba. "If you would've gotten hail on this field, it would've knocked off your crop, would've knocked off the bloom and your yield potential starts to go down as a result of that."

Borba also shared that most of his almonds, pistachios, and other crops were okay.

He says places that saw heavier downfall, like cherries blooming in Kern County, could have seen even more damage from this recent storm.

"We did have some heavy rain north of Visalia. There was heavy rain in Porterville, but it seems like we kind of dodged a bullet here, so we'll just kind of hope for the best the next couple of days," said Borba.

Borba says typically after heavy downpours, farmers will assess their crops.

If the damage is severe, they would be in contact with their adjusters before potentially having to file a claim.

Plus, Tulare County Farm Bureau also mentions heavy rain slows down bees that are needed for pollination during this time of the year.

"We already have a shortage of bees in the pipeline this year doing that pollination work," explained Tricia Stever Blattler with the Tulare County Farm Bureau.

"The cee community has continued to have a challenge with a disease colony. Collapse continues to be a long and chronic disease situation that has affected our domestic bee supply."

Meanwhile, farmers in the South Valley are prepping for the next round of rain.

"This time of year, you're not out of the woods until your crop gets to a certain size," said Borba. "Where it may be able to take a little bit of damage on the outside of the almond, but it won't knock it off the tree and it won't really affect the quality as you get towards harvest, season, and summertime."

Another challenge Borba says farmers could be dealing with is tree health because of the floods in 2023.

Now, it is a waiting game to see where the rain will fall the heaviest this week.

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