May/June 2023 - 10

WEATHER UPDATE
that don't drain well or on wider pieces of ground, said
Paul Pezzini of Pezzini Berry Farms in Salinas.
In the long term, Pezzini foresees an increase in
disease and weed pressure. Growers can expect more
botrytis. Some of the diseases that normally appear later
in the season could create headaches earlier than usual.
" This water could bring soil disease and that kind of
thing, which is always a problem, " he said.
Plant diseases favor heavy moisture, said Gerald
Holmes, director of the Cal Poly Strawberry Center in
San Luis Obispo.
" Diseases love water, " he said. " Most diseases thrive
in wet conditions. Rain splashes fungal spores around.
Most diseases are worse when there's a lot of moisture. "
Holmes said phytophthora root rot revel in wet
conditions. He said growers should prepare for more
incidences of those diseases and other fungal pathogens,
including botrytis rot on fruit, a common disease that
worsens during rain, and angular leaf spot, a bacterial
disease on foliage.
" It's really difficult for growers to treat disease when
it's raining because they can't get their rigs into the
fields, " said Holmes. " They have had so much rain. We
expect a lot of losses will be due to botrytis. "
California farms were jeopardized by torrential rains
that deluged fields, like this strawberry field near
Salinas. Photo: California Strawberry Commission
Pollination fears
Honeybees don't like to fly in unfavorable weather,
concerning growers about how the torrential rains will
affect pollination.
" As we have had a lot of days where it was either
raining or too cold or too windy, whether we get a
good pollination job or not is questionable, " said Joe
Del Bosque, CEO/operations of Del Bosque Farms,
Firebaugh, which grows melons, almonds and cherries.
He said " storm after storm " continued throughout the
bloom season.
" The bees have only been able to come out every
several days, " Del Bosque said. " Other times, there may
be one storm during the bloom seasons, it may affect
us, but we probably had fewer good pollination days this
season than others. "
In early May, government damage estimates weren't
available, but Moody's RMS, a catastrophe risk modeling
and solutions firm, estimated total U.S. economic losses
from the California floods at $5-7 billion. The estimate
included infrastructure damage.
The state is working closely with local county officials
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as well as the USDA to tally the extent of damage and
to bring aid to farmers, ranchers and landowners who
have been impacted by flooding, said Brian Ferguson,
deputy director of the California Governor's Office of
Emergency Service.
" The flooding particularly in the Central Valley is very
much an ongoing and evolving challenge, " he said. " Work
is happening rapidly on the ground now to get clarity on
impacts, and we are likely to have a much clearer picture
in the weeks and months to come as the water recedes. "
During an April 5 California State Board of Food and
website: www.springbrooksupply.com
e-mail: sbs@springbrooksupply.com
877-396-1956 toll free
11291 Lakewood Blvd., Holland, MI 49424
10 | MAY/JUNE 2023
Agriculture meeting, Asha Raj, emergency management
coordinator with the California Department of Food and
Agriculture, said the agency is coordinating and sharing
information with county ag commissioners in the flood
affected counties and working with trade associations.
" We are working with ag commissioners to gather crop
loss information to get a USDA designation, " she said.
http://www.springbrooksupply.com
May/June 2023

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