Record Rains Slow Harvest

Next Year's Seedling Field

Twas the day before Christmas and all through the fields...people are working - finally after a water logged week of near record rains.

I'm sure you saw it on the news.  The West Coast was hammered with the "Pineapple Express" - heavy rainfall originating from the tropics.  It started for us on Friday afternoon 12/17 and continued heavy until Tuesday with lighter rains on Wednesday.  Now it is hitting Southern California with a vengence while we dry out.

From Friday night to Monday morning 4 1/2" - add another 1" Monday and Tuesday.

Now for many of you reading this, 5+ inches of rain is nothing.  But for the flat Central Valley of California, where 9" of rain is the whole year's allotment, this is considered a flood.  There is no place for it to run off quickly.

Cooke 2 Field - partially harvested on the left.  Flowering Apricots in foreground.

The photos of the fields on this page shows what I saw Monday morning.  At first look it was pretty depressing.  Every year we usually have some rain that requires pumping excess water off the low (drain) end of the field.  So we have large portable pumps for that purpose.  This rain event was no different except a lot more water to pump off.  Thus we ran out an bought 5 more expensive pumps to take care of more fields at once.  By Monday afternoon, even though it was still raining hard, the sitting water was gone.  Pumped water off again Tuesday and Wednesday mornings after the night time accumulations.  Our guys worked hard and the fields drained very well.  Just needed a little dry time to get the diggers back in.

Digger Monday morning shows water not deep - just not suitable to dig either.

Employee cutting paths for water to drain better to pumps.  This field of seedlings/cuttings was just planted in late November and will now have to be sprayed to prevent water borne diseases that love to attack seedlings.  Lot of extra cost to be expended to have this crop 2 years from now.

By Thursday afternoon, we had the diggers back running in the fields and full day of digging Christmas Eve with multiple diggers.  Did I mention we are growing on great sandy loam soil?  Water penetrates and disappears quickly.  Glad this is not a clay based profile.

Emply field where we took the corn cover crop off last summer.  Crows are appreciating the worms and other critters coming up for air.

In agriculture, you have to deal with what Mother Nature throws at you and this is one of those challenges.  I think we learn to look for silver linings in things.  For one, California needs the water (just not all at once please!).  Second, we are hoping all the gophers in our valley drowned.  Some of their holes made great drains for a while.

Today, we received delivery of the last 3 remaining large "Mudder" tractors found in our Valley.

Rental "Mudder" tractors arrived for pulling trailers.  Won't be clean very long.

We have a lot of tractors but the 2 wheel drive versions will no longer be able to pull trailers full of trees through the muddy digger ruts in the fields.  We have a few large and smaller 4 wheel drive tractors as well.  The smaller ones are worthless when their bellies drag in the mud as the wheels spin in the digger ruts.  So we have rented these 3 extra high clearance tractors to pull the trailers to the edge of the fields where the other tractors can attach and pull the trailers on the roads. $1,800 a month lease for each one - an expense we would like to not have had to expend.

Bottom line is we have lost some harvest time and will likely run a week later than planned for shipping.  We have a great crop in the field with over half already harvested and in the sand beds.  Those in the field are in great shape as well and will be harvested in fine shape although with more expense and labor to get it done.  Our goal to start shipping right after New Years weekend will slip by the week we lost with the rains.  More storms are forecasted for Christmas night and again later next week.  If only normal rains, should not stop harvest (but will break local records for rainfall in December).  Hurrah for Sandy Loam!

Hope you and your family have a Merry Christ's Birthday.  I know I am looking forward to our family gathering and the last day off from work for several weeks to come.

Ron Ludekens 12-24-2010