RIO RICO, AZ — A torrential rain storm struck vegetable fields in Sonora, Mexico, Sept. 20-22, with the largest volume of rain falling on fields near the Gulf of California, west of Hermosillo.

Mexican produce distributors here indicate that the significance of the damage would not reveal itself until a week or 10 days after the storm in early October.

Jerry Havel, director of sales and marketing for Fresh Farms, based in Rio Rico, AZ, said this evaluation period will come after the fields dry. The affected area received between three and nine inches of rain in the Sunday-Tuesday timeframe.The sales staff at Fresh Farms in Rio Rico, AZ, is geared up for a late September start of the Mexican deal, which will run through June. Standing together are Robert Hernandez, Al Voll, Marco Serrano and Jerry Havel.

“This will push crops back seven to 10 days and it will probably cause some crop loss on watermelons and hard squash,” he said.

Jorge Quintero Jr., managing partner of Grower Alliance LLC, also in Rio Rico, said Sept. 22 that many of the fields that were flooded by the storm were a week from harvest. A Grower Alliance representative was in the Hermosillo area that day and had indicated to Quintero that fields around Hermosillo were hit by the storm.

Quintero and Havel both said that the biggest part of the deluge fell nearer to the Gulf of California.Jorge Quintero, the managing partner of Grower Alliance LLC.

Despite the rain, “Overall everyone expects a good season and good markets,” said Quintero. “It might not be that way for some growers but those who survive should be OK.”

On Sept. 23, Havel stressed that it is not a dire forecast for the Mexican deal. “We will have good volume from now until June, but now it will be a little slower start. There are vast plantings elsewhere. We still expect good volume and high quality all the way through. Ten years ago, Nogales didn’t start until late October. Now we’re saying we’ll be late because we’re not starting until late September.”

Havel said Mexico received more rain than normal all summer, which is consistent with the forecast related to an active El Niño Pacific Ocean current. In the short run, the big September storm “means smaller crops and lower volumes, which usually means higher FOBs.”

“This is unusual,” Quintero said. “A little rain is OK, but having standing water in fields is unusual for this time of year. It rained non-stop for a day-and-a-half. Especially with harvest coming in the next 10 days or so, this was maybe a plant killer.”

Squash, watermelons, honeydew and cucumbers in the area were approaching harvest maturity. “Since they were close to harvest, maybe there is damage but not complete losses,” said Quintero. “The growers know there is only so much they can do to prepare for this.”

He added that some of his growers responded to the heavy rains that were forecasted from El Niño this year by building plant rows that are up the two feet high to elevate above potential flooding.

“This doesn’t stop the rain but it lets the water run out” of the field, he said.

Quintero said growers may likely need to spray after the flooding to avoid plant diseases.

“More and more of our ‘hectarage’ is produced under shade houses, which helps keep it drier,” Quintero noted. “The growers know it’s coming and they prepare the best they can. But they are growers and they can’t not plant because of the fear of losing production.”

A key in this grower decision, Quintero emphasized, is an awareness that if someone else’s crops are damaged by bad weather and one’s own production succeeds. “If you make it, you really make it.”

Other crops in this area are Bell peppers and tomatoes, which are farther from harvest, Quintero noted.