Delay for some crops due to Valley storms

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- In a race against time, crews baled and picked up oat hay growing in between young pistachio trees on the Fresno State campus farm.

The work had to be done before the threatening skies opened up.

This year's cherry crop is way off schedule.

Orchard and Field Crop Manager Rob Willmott says the rain and cold lengthened the dormancy period of the trees, so they slept longer.

"The cherries are about three weeks to a month behind here," he said. "Normally, we'd have cherries in the farm market right now."

Growers usually worry about rain during harvest time, but these cherries are still developing.

"Thank goodness they're this green, so if any real rain did show up, they won't crack on me," Willmott said. "I'm not too worried about them at this stage."

At this time of year, you'd also normally notice a lot of fruit on the citrus trees.

But as you can see, this orchard is still full of white blossoms.

"You would start to see the petals starting falling off, the fruit forming there, and then it starts sizing up but we're not even near there," Willmott said. "Some flowers are still opening."

In addition to the oranges, the apricots on campus are also delayed.

No cherries yet, but Willmott says strawberries and asparagus are available at the campus farm market.

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