Rain welcomed by farmers, wet conditions keep some out of work

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Heavy downpour across the Central Valley is a welcomed sight by farmers in the area this week.

But rainy day schedules mean farm workers, forklift drivers, and truck drivers are temporarily out of work.

Jose Rivas is a grower representative at Visalia Citrus Packing Group.

Their six farm labor contractors employ about 200 farm workers.

Each is missing out on about $100 a day during wet weather.

"A lot of those farm workers depend on this to pay their bills. The bills don't stop. If the work stops the bills don't," says Jose.

To minimize lost wages, the packing group picks more on sunny days.

The days before and after the rain are also pretty busy for Keith Nilmeier.

His family farmed this land, in Sanger, in the late 1800s.

The wet conditions also kept some of his employees home for the day.

"It does have a negative impact on the wages they make. But they understand too if we don't get the water we don't have enough water to grow the crops and if we don't have enough water to grow the crops then they're out of a job period."

For farmers the pros of rain outweigh the cons.

Keith explains rain water helps the crops grow larger.

With recent drought conditions - the rain is a sigh of relief.

Jose mentions, "We are hoping we get more rain and maybe Monday or Tuesday we are back harvesting the crops."

Despite the obstacles that come with a rainy day schedules, farmers say the rain is very much needed.