The Farm Beat: Take Your Pick of Harvest Weather

Tuesday's storm certainly was a nice start toward a decent rainfall year, but it might have come at a cost. The rain came in the middle of the walnut harvest, and the ground needs to be dry so they can shake the nuts off the trees. From what I've heard so far, there won't be major problems if it's sunny in the next few days. The almond harvest is just about done, so the rain likely didn't do much. And the nuts that got wet can go into dryers before processing. A bigger worry is what the wind might have done. The trees still have their leaves, so they catch the wind "like a big sail," as one industry person told me. That could mean broken limbs or entirely toppled trees. On balance, it was probably good to have the rain and snow because it will soak into dry watersheds, allowing later storm water to run off into reservoirs.