News and Stories

California’s Salinas Valley received between .50 and 1.1 inches of rainfall over the weekend, mostly concentrated in the Northern part of the Valley. High winds that followed helped to dry out the fields and prevent harvesting conditions from becoming excessively bad, but some harvesting and/or loading delays may be experienced for Salinas Valley lettuces, tender leaf, and other row crop items. Strawberries in Salinas Valley have been impacted the most, and growers will be determining whether or not to stop production and switch their focus to preparing next season’s crop.

Markon inspectors anticipate seeing the following rain-related defects in lettuce and tender leaf items in the coming days:

• Bottom rot
• Decay
• Mildew pressure
• Premature pinking in some value added items
• Shortened shelf life potential

Trace amounts of rain are still possible this morning, but moving forward this week, a warming trend will bring temperatures back to well above seasonal norms, with highs in the mid-80s to low 90s by Friday, October 21. Markon inspectors will be working with growers and processors to select the best fields available and will update further once the effects of the rain and the upcoming warming trend become more clear.

Please contact your Markon customer service representative for more information.

John Galvez
Quality Assurance
markon.com

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