US: Rain bigger concern than warm temps in the East

The eastern part of the United States has experienced unusually warm weather this past fall and early winter. While a warmer winter is troublesome for crops that require chill hours, lots of rain along the East Coast has posed more immediate problems for growers.

“Warm weather combined with rain has definitely hurt quality,” said Will Easterlin of Easterlin Pecan Company in Georgia. “The warm weather does cause some problems, but it's that warm weather with rain that really deteriorates quality. We had a good growing season during the summer, but then we had rains in September and some fungus toward the end of the crop. After that, we had more quality issues associated with the warm December.” He estimated that, as result of the abnormal weather, production this season will be about 20 to 30 percent lighter than that from the previous season.

Similarly, rains have plagued South Carolina's growers. They have dealt with heavy moisture since October, and the problems associated with that have overshadowed the effects of abnormally high temperatures.

“The majority of our winter crops are leafy greens which can withstand wide ranging temperatures and were harvested before the extreme warm weather,” said Stephanie Sox of the South Carolina Department of Agriculture. “A bigger challenge is the unseasonably wet weather we’ve had. In addition to the flood event in October, we’ve had rain almost every week. Some areas have recorded more than 11 inches of rain in November alone. Farmers are struggling to get crops planted in the saturated fields, and will continue to face soil quality issues in the spring.”

Florida's growers have also struggled with lots of rain. It's been a challenge to get on any sort of set schedule, noted Jason Turek of Turek farms, who handles fresh corn from Florida. He's in the process of planting, and the rain has made it a challenge to get his fields ready for the next 60 days, which he says are very important for the crop.

“It's mostly been the rain that's a problem, not the warm weather,” said Turek. “I think we'd prefer warm over cold right now because some of the worst frosts have come at the beginning of March. It's a long way to go until then, and all it takes is one big cold front to seal the deal for rest of spring.”

In the absence of the rain felt in other parts of the the East Coast, higher temperatures have had less of an impact on New York agriculture. For crops that require a certain number chill hours so that plants and trees recuperate sufficiently for a strong bloom in spring, the warm weather is troublesome. But for other crops, higher temperatures are more manageable.

“For our common storage, which uses outside air to cool our cabbage, it's been a challenge to keep our storage cold enough,” said Eric Hansen of Hansen Farms in Stanley, New York. While the cabbage season is finished, Hansen has to ensure the cabbage that's in storage keeps well. Product that's in refrigerated storage is not affected by the weather, but common storage cabbage is.

“From December until the end of June, we sell cabbage out of storage,” said Hansen. “We want to keep the cabbage as close to 32 degrees as possible. If temperatures get up to 38 or 40 degrees, then there's a concern that, down the road, it will affect the longevity of the product. We won't have to throw anything out, but we might have to trim more leaves than usual.”

For Turek, who also grows summer vegetables in New York, a cold winter kills off many of the pests that can stick around until spring. A mild winter will likely mean more insect pressure for his summer crops. But, given that, a mild winter still isn't all bad.

“We were kind of able to do some work on the buildings in the fall,” said Turek. “It was a plus that we had some nice weather to accomplish those things.”