Challenges and Opportunities for Waterlogged California

With much of the West gripped by an epic drought, you might wonder if any amount of additional water is too much for California, the nation’s leading agricultural producer. When 32 trillion gallons of water fell during three weeks of a soggy winter, it’s a good question to consider.

The massive influx of rain and snowfall is largely a positive for California, including farmers, who benefit from replenished underground aquifers, a major influx of water in storage and reduced soil salinity.

Challenges from that much water all at once include thousands of acres of flooded strawberry fields, and the potential that overly wet conditions may negatively impact upcoming almond pollination. Bees do not like to gather pollen if it’s too cold or wet.

“In certain regions, there’s going to inevitably be flooding, due to the substantial snowpack,” remarked Justin Rose, Redox Bio-Nutrients Agronomist working with growers in the San Joaquin Valley. “For some of these early guys who’ll be getting in for bloom time, for sprays in almonds and some fruit trees, saturated soils will prevent them from entering, so they’ll either have to go by air, or they won’t spray any bloom sprays at all.”

Rose said Supreme is one of the products that provides big benefits during this time in the season. It’s a full nutrient package with a fermentation process that helps retain and size nuts.

Along the coast, Redox Bio-Nutrients Agronomist Kort Holzwart is working to help strawberry growers get the most from their fields, especially with key sales periods like Mother’s Day around the corner.

“Early on, it’s most important to have the field drained,” he said. “As we move forward into the season, I would recommend products to help stimulate plant and root growth. H-85 is going to be a phenomenal product, to stimulate microbial activity. Also, RootRx is a winning root stimulant option for some of these growers.”