California Harvests Mostly Wrapped Before October Storms Hit

Central Valley rainfall totals from California's first statewide storm of the season ran from one-tenth of an inch to a full inch, and by the time it arrived on Oct. 14-15, many of the state's harvests were already finished. Growers who ramped up fieldwork ahead of El Niño (the recurring Pacific warming pattern that steers winter storms toward California) say the early push limited damage from a storm system that, in the words of one county Farm Bureau executive, "was noisier than it actually delivered."

Why did early harvests matter this year?

Heat during bloom advanced crop development across much of California, pulling harvest schedules forward. Some farms also deliberately accelerated fieldwork in anticipation of the fierce storms El Niño typically brings. The result: when the Oct. 14-15 system paused harvests of numerous crops, most growers had little left in the field.

"We're done," said Colleen Cecil, executive director of the Butte County Farm Bureau, whose family grows walnuts. "We actually have an early variety with Howards, so we took ours pretty early."

Cecil told Agri-Pulse that rain at this point in the season most likely affects the Sacramento Valley's walnut, rice and olive harvests. Olives got off to an early start, and in many areas the rain was not enough to cause major disruption, she said.

Who faces the most risk?

Rice growers who planted late because of spring storms could have the most difficulty if the rainy season arrives early, Cecil said. Spring planting delays compressed their season from both ends, leaving less margin for weather interruptions now.

"It's a pretty standard weather situation for this late in harvest season," she added.

Her rain gauge in Butte County recorded three-tenths of an inch from the storm. Willows, in the heart of the Sacramento Valley's rice and olive acreage, recorded about 0.7 inches over the two days, according to the National Weather Service.

How did handlers and processors respond?

California Olive Ranch, one of the state's major olive producers, paused harvest activities in Yolo County "for a few hours" on Oct. 21, Chief of Operations Conor Churchin told Agri-Pulse. The company planned for El Niño well before the rain arrived.

"That's why we started early this year and brought in more harvesters," Churchin said. "That enabled us to clean up the orchards quicker than normal."

The added machinery and earlier start translate directly into lower weather risk per acre — the operational buffer growers build when forecasters signal a wet winter.

What about cotton and citrus in the San Joaquin Valley?

In the San Joaquin Valley, the crop most susceptible to early rain is cotton, said Ryan Jacobsen, executive director of the Fresno County Farm Bureau. But the rain that fell was not out of the ordinary for late October.

"It's been on and off for three days now," he said Friday. "It's a longer cycle, but not a lot of rain."

Citrus harvests are in full swing, and the heaviest rains kept farmers out of their orchards for only a couple of days, Jacobsen said. Other crops are largely wrapped up, including table grapes, which normally would have been in the middle of harvest at this date.

"Some of our large producers are finished already," he said.

Jacobsen, who grows almonds and raisin grapes himself, framed the storm as routine. "We expect the rain at this time of year," he said. "This is typically when the rain starts rolling in."

As is often the case with El Niño, the storm hit Southern California harder, dropping several inches on some mountain and foothill areas, KTLA-TV in Los Angeles reported.

What comes next?

The next system may arrive around Halloween. Forecasters say the remnants of Tropical Storm Olana, near Hawaii, could combine with high tides to slam California's coastline, and both Northern and Southern California should brace for heavy rain, high winds and potential flooding this coming weekend.

The federal Climate Prediction Center expects the wet pattern to continue through the winter, particularly in Central and Southern California — meaning growers with crops still in the field, above all late-planted rice and San Joaquin Valley cotton, face the tightest weather window heading into November.