Unusually wet spring delays California crops, damages others

LOS ANGELES — California growers are frustrated by an unusually wet spring that has delayed the planting of crops like rice and damaged others including strawberries and wine grapes.

Rice grower Kurt Richter said Tuesday that storms forced him to wait weeks to start seeding his land in Colusa County. And rice that he managed to get into the ground is in a “refrigerated state” because of colder than usual temperatures that threaten to reduce yields.

Watsonville strawberry farmer Peter Navarro tells the Santa Cruz Sentinel that recent wet weather is disrupting his picking schedule and causing a loss of production.

Much of California has seen two to five times more precipitation than is normal for this point in May. The wet trend is expected to continue through the month.

The Associated Press