Local farmers react to wet weather disturbance

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) - A wet November caused some disturbance in local farming that highlights how farmers overcome weather challenges.

"It impacts us deeply because if we have product down, and we get a lot of rain, now we have to worry about the fungicide and mildews. We have to plant fungicides. We are battling other plagues like insect damage and things that are coming up after it dries up," said Valentine Sierra with Amigo Farms.

Extensive rain can drown months of hard work and can cost local farmers a big price. Most people would assume rain is good for farmers, but sometimes it can cause big problems 

"Our cost did increase maybe like five or 10% in those three months that we had that extra rain," Sierra shared.

Yuma's rainy periods are notoriously unpredictable. Growers depend on weather updates to decide when to make changes to their fields.

"We just watch the weather as close as we can. It's unpredictable. It's hard to tell, but if we can see if the weather is kind of accurate, and we are following [it], we can prepare ourselves and just hope that it doesn't change, so that we can just stay with our schedule, but once that rain comes we are already prepared with plan b to move crops to another ranch," Sierra expressed.

A season of rain has the potential to drown months of labor within a few days. With proper planning and adaptability, the chance of crop survival is possible.