LABOR DAY HEAT WAVE IMPACT
An intense heat wave is coming over the Labor weekend and into Labor Day week. Temperatures will reach over 105 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 down the road.
What can you expect?
* We may see sunburn on hot pepper plants as well as tomato plants. The tomatoes that were cooked will need to be pulled off the vine and composted. The good news is that the sunburned pepper and tomato plants will recover.
*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. Prices will continue to rise on lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, iceberg, sweet baby broccoli amongst others. Expect prices to remain volatile for at least a few weeks.
* Strawberries can be cooked by excessive heat. Volume will most likely tighten up.
* Herbs, in particular basil, are susceptible to quality issues from the heat. The plants need a recovery period of at least 7-10 days, depending on crop damage it could be longer.
*Artichokes open to flower in the heat. Expect production to be reduced.
We will continue to update you on the impacts from the heat, but there is a good chance we will see shortages in production down the road.
