Storms and $19.75 Wages Push California Nut Growers to Rush Fall Work

California's minimum wage for many farmworkers rises to $19.75 an hour on Jan. 1, and tree nut growers are racing a second clock: a chain of storms, the first arriving Friday, that threatens to shut down field operations across the state for weeks.

Jeff Carr, director of grower relations for the Deerpoint Group, an agricultural technology and chemical solutions firm, said one grower put his crew on a Sunday shift. "He was worried that after about Nov. 11 he won't have much time," Carr told Agri-Pulse.

Carr spoke after appearing on a Nov. 3 California Farm Bureau webinar on El Niño preparation for almond and pistachio growers. His central advice: pre-position fertilizer in the irrigation tank now, so growers can fertigate (inject nutrients through irrigation water) between storms. "Even if you get a storm and then get a couple of days of dry weather, you might be able to get out on a quad and turn your irrigation on, but there's very little probability you can get an 80,000-pound truck to the fertilizer tank," he said.

Why the work moved earlier

Harvests ran earlier than normal on a lighter-than-expected almond crop, and some growers began postharvest work in September: disease and shaker damage assessments, fall application planning, and cover crop seeding. The University of California Cooperative Extension advised getting cover crop seed in the ground by the end of October.

Fresno County Farm Bureau CEO Ryan Jacobsen, who grows almonds and raisin grapes, said the wage increase is driving the schedule as much as the weather. "A lot of folks have tried to expedite that before Jan. 1 because of the wage increase," he said. "I think that's as much or more so of why folks are getting things done on the early side."

Almond pruning, compost, and fall applications are normally done before mid-November, Jacobsen noted. Vineyards differ: grape pruning typically waits for the first frost and leaf drop in late November or December.

What the forecast shows

A two-week dry stretch ends abruptly Friday, when the first robust system brings heavy rain and mountain snow to much of the state. Meteorologists expect waves as high as 30 feet along the coastline, and a subtropical jet stream could stay aimed at California for weeks.

Scott Borgioli, CEO and chief meteorologist at WeatherAg, a California agricultural forecasting firm, said long-range models consistently show significantly above-average precipitation for Central and Southern California through mid-spring of 2027. "There's increased probability of having excessive precipitation in storm systems coming through with limited drying-out period," he said. Saturated soils raise the risk of disease and rot.

How bloom could be affected

The highest rainfall likelihood falls in January through March, which overlaps the almond bloom, roughly Feb. 4 to Feb. 14, and the March pistachio bloom. Rain disrupts pollen effectiveness, and pistachios, unlike almonds, do not depend on bees. "If it's storm after storm after storm during bloom, it's going to have an impact on production," Carr said. A few sunny days above 55 degrees can improve the bloom dramatically.

One offset: Borgioli expects an above-average April 1 snowpack, since Gulf of Alaska systems can merge with the subtropical jet and deliver cold, not warm, storms.