Yuma lettuce battles ice issues

Growers in the Arizona/California desert region say cold and wind are causing quality issues and delayed harvests.

Markon Cooperative BB #:123315 director of quality assurance John Galvez says later harvests are also causing loading delays.
But better weather is coming soon.

“After less widespread ice on March 2, forecasts are calling for a small chance of rain mid-week followed by another warming trend into the weekend, so the weather is a little erratic, but not extreme and not too out of the norm for this time in the season,” he says.

The weekend’s ice and cold wind has caused lettuce to take on a slightly dull appearance, Galvez says, and “fields that were in colder areas started to exhibit minor epidermal blister, but most of it is present on protection leaves that can be trimmed off. Yields are still expected to be very good even with some extra trimming, but we may see a dip in case weights this week.”

While restaurants are starting to slowly open across the country, that uptick in demand has been leveled out by recovery from the mid-February freezes that hit massive areas of the U.S.

“Sadly, we’ve seen a significant amount of lettuce acres being disked over the past two weeks due to lack of demand,” Galvez says. “Everyone is hoping for a swift and sustained lift in business soon.”

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