20% of strawberry fields in a critical California growing region are now underwater due to historic rainfall, disrupting harvests and yields. This comes at a bad time for the trucking industry, which has been in adverse conditions since May 2022, and FreightWaves’ National Truckload Index shows 2023 is weak compared to past years. Despite the need for truckers, other freight brokers don’t expect a massive windfall of loads this harvest season, calling it a “perfect storm.”
Why Harvesting in California May be Delayed — or Written Off
The AP reported that ~20% of CA strawberry fields have been underwater since March 10, when a levee broke, and how many can be harvested is unclear. Thomas Turini of Fresno’s farming extension center said lettuce harvested from deluged fields showed signs of crop disease, leading to a 41% increase in berry prices in 2021 and 8.7% in 2022. However, some California crops may benefit from the deluge, such as nuts, and Ian LeMay, president of the California Fresh Fruit Association, said some dry, warm days would be appreciated.
Tomatoes: The Unexpected Jewel of Trucking
Turini and central California growers are concerned about how floods could affect tomatoes, typically planted in late February. This could create a tomato bottleneck since an acre yields ~50 tons, compared to 16 tons for onions, 20 tons for grapes, and 4,000 lbs for almonds – spooky for truckers.
Sources: https://www.freightwaves.com/news/produce-season-likely-to-be-weak-and-its-bad-news-for-truckers
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