News and Stories

Extreme heat and lightning/thunderstorms over the weekend caused a wildfire that has burned over 10,500 acres since Sunday, August 16 and forced thousands to evacuate their homes in the hills just south of Salinas, California. A handful of homes have been damaged or destroyed and the River Fire is only approximately 7% contained.
                                                                
Apart from the immediate concern for life and property, this fire and the above-normal temperatures that are expected to continue into next week, which will have short- and long-term effects on Salinas Valley growing, harvesting, and shipping operations. Such effects include:

• Falling ash throughout the valley landing in or on produce crops that cannot be removed completely during packing
  • Commodity items such as green leaf, iceberg, and romaine lettuces will be impacted the most
  • Some lightly processed items may contain small amounts of ash debris and require additional rinsing
• Poor air quality is causing terrible conditions for harvesting crews already struggling to work in hot weather while wearing face masks; if conditions become too dangerous, harvesting operations may be curtailed or canceled, potentially causing product shortages
• The strain on California’s power grid during this heat wave is resulting in rolling blackouts that could impact shipping operations
  • The Salinas Valley has not experienced a blackout yet, but could as weather is hotter than normal
  • Temperatures have fallen from record-setting heat received last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
• Heat-related quality and shelf-life issues will be observed for the next few weeks in virtually all Salinas Valley row crops
  • Internal burn
  • Fringe burn
  • Seeders
  • Sun scalding
  • Dehydration

Markon will continue to update throughout these extreme conditions. Cold-chain management will be critical for maximizing quality and shelf-life.

Please contact your Markon customer service representative for more information.
 
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