EARLY CALIFORNIA HEAT WAVE

Temperatures over the past week reached over 100 degrees in many growing regions including Salinas Valley and Bakersfield. The heat affects our food production, putting not only the plants and fruit at risk but the people harvesting our food. Once the temperature reaches 90-95 degrees it is too hot to be in the field picking and workers need to be sent home. Hot days and fewer hours to pick will affect supply and quality across various commodities.

Some summer fruits such as watermelon, tomatoes and melons like the heat, however if it gets too hot for an extended period of time the plants become stressed, interrupting its production cycle, slowing down the ripening process and preventing necessary nutrients from reaching the plant. For many plants like tomatoes, new fruit will not set in high heat conditions.  The flowers will not pollinate leading to gaps in production in the future.

Brassicas are showing signs of heat stress ( think broccoli, cauliflower, collards, kales etc).  Expect to see a little sunburn on some lettuce varieties.  Romaine and Butter lettuce will show the worst damage with browning around the top of the leaves.  It is unknown the extent of the damage from the heat but there is a good chance we may see shortages in production down the road.  We will continue to update you as we know more.