Recent heavy rains are affecting California crop production

Heavy rain that has recently drenched the entire state is affecting crop production across California.

For some Coachella Valley farmers, however, the extra water was welcome.

“Our farm has been affected by the rain but believe it or not, it's been affected in a good way,” said Sam Cobb, the owner of Sam Cobb Date Farms.

Other local farmers, like Mark Tadros, the president of Aziz Farms, says that the recent rain could have been a blessing or a curse depending on a farmer's crops.

“Our farm right now, it hasn't terribly been affected, at least not our vegetable crops that we grow here at the packhouse…some things are a lot more susceptible, like fresh strawberries…I know a local strawberry farmer whose production is a lot less this year than it was last year and a lot of that is weather related," said Tadros.

Tadros says that the crops that are facing the biggest challenges on their farm right now are their dates. However, these challenges are not because of the rain.

“It needs to be warm enough outside to have the pollen actually set on the flowers. We've had some pretty volatile temperatures so hopefully it continues to stay warm like it is now and we won't see too many problems," Tadros said.

Northern California, otherwise known as the state's "salad bowl", is facing more severe farming issues.

Northern California farmers have reported muddy fields, damaged crops and unsuitable harvesting conditions due to the heavy rain.

“They were completely flooded out, the ground was saturated. They weren't able to plant when they were supposed to plant, they weren't able to seed when they were supposed to seed...," Tadros said.

Tadros says that valley residents may feel the effects of the soggy fields up North at the grocery store soon.

 “The demand will stay where it is and the supply should dip. I would say mid to late April is when we might start feeling that at the retail store.”

With these changes ahead, Tadros says that it's time to support local growers more than ever.

“We need to keep in mind that the number two economic driver of the Coachella Valley is agriculture. So supporting agriculture, supporting farmers, especially here at a local level is really important.”