Hardie's Fresh Foods

WEATHER ALERT: The Salinas Valley was hit hard with rain late last week, which has caused many fields to flood across Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito Counties. Levees have been breached, including the Pajaro River levee causing thousands of people to evacuate. 

The current flooding in the Salinas Valley will create a significant challenge for April and May product supply. Many growers are moving quickly to plant extra acres across other growing regions, including Yuma, Florida, and Mexico. Some of the fields were already seeded and are now a complete loss. In addition, many growers utilize transplants to help mitigate the impact of current and future weather events. It is too early to realize the extent of the damages caused by flooding and standing water.

• Higher markets on items grown in the Salinas Valley once we transition north from Yuma.
• Possible gaps in supplies in April and May due to late plantings.
• Warm weather in Yuma is causing the product to grow faster, potentially leading to a gap in late April.
• Shippers must stretch Yuma products as long as they can to help mitigate a transition gap.
• The extremely minimal supplies of Sweet Baby Broccoli will continue through March as this is grown in the Salinas Valley year-round.
• Another atmospheric river will hit the Salinas Valley late tonight into tomorrow. 
• Rainfall of up to 1 ½” is expected. 

We will continue to monitor this storm and update accordingly.