Bugged by El Nin~o

Our El Nin~o-caused rainy season has barely started, but already its impact is being felt. Hurricane Nora, which sent rain our way last week, soaked farmers from Baja to the Imperial Valley.

Overall, growers apparently ducked the worst of it, but how much it hurt depended on region and crop.

The Imperial Valley and Yuma, Ariz., growing areas were probably worst hit, even though the fields looked bare. There were seeds in the ground.

“It was only a little over two inches of rain, but it caught us right in the middle of planting,” says Steve Birdsall, agricultural commissioner for Imperial Valley. “When our soil types get soaked and then dry out, they form a hard crust that seeds won’t come through. Any seed that is in the ground and hasn’t germinated will probably have to be replanted.”

Birdsall estimated that several thousand acres--between 15% and 25% of the valley’s winter vegetable fields--will have to be replanted.

That won’t have any effect on vegetable prices today. But in two or three months, when the broccoli, cauliflower and lettuces should have been harvested, it could cause a gap, making those crops more expensive.

Of more immediate concern is the effect of the rain on tomato growers in Southern California and Baja California. The eye of the hurricane reportedly passed about 40 miles south of San Quintin, where the Mexican tomato industry is centered.

“It’s total confusion down there right now,” says Ed Beckman, president of the California Tomato Commission. “Shipments out of Baja [last] Thursday were 6,000 cases, as opposed to a normal day of about 70,000. There was a real panic on the tomato market for a day. Vine-ripes went up about $4 a box, but it seems to have calmed down. Still, it’s going to be a week before we know what’s going on.”

At this time of year, roughly 20% of the American tomato supply comes from the various Mexican growing areas.

California growers weren’t so hard-hit, but the weather still caused problems, says David Cook of Deardorff-Jackson Co., a major grower-shipper. “It’s really been warm and humid for the last couple of weeks, and the bug pressure and fungus pressure have been tremendous,” he said. “We’re having to spray a lot to keep things under control. This is perfect weather for growing botrytis [a plant fungus].”

Overall, though, things could have been--and still might get--a lot worse. “We got lucky this time; it appears the hype of the storm far outweighed any actual damage,” says Matt Seeley of Nunes Co., a grower-shipper with fields in Southern California. “But this whole El Nin~o thing is going to be around for a while.”

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Carolyn Olney of the Southland Farmers Market Association reports that Rick Baltazar of ABC Rhubarb Farm in Downey sells a great variety of herbs, from arugula to lemongrass. He’s at the Downtown Long Beach market on Friday, Irvine on Saturday, Hollywood on Sunday and West Hollywood on Monday.