KMPH Fox 26 Central San Joaquin Valley News Source in Fresno, California Entertainment, News, Sports and Weather | Rain Could Hurt Valley Raisin Crop

Rain Could Hurt Valley Raisin Crop

By Clint Olivier

BIOLA - Jerry Rebensdorf has been around raisins his entire life.

He's the president of Cooperative Raisin Growers in Biola.

The group has 35 members.

"After the first rain we didn't have any problems, but the second we do have some water standing on the trays," he said.

For grapes to become raisins, they have to lay on paper "trays" for three weeks or so.

Rain is the opposite of what they need to make a successful crop.

Growers like Jerry now have to get the water off the trays.

If not, mold starts to grow on the grapes.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will reject a crop if 5% of the grapes have mold growing on them.

"We're hoping that the sunlight and the wind will help dry it out," he said.

Another hazard, this one avoided.

Deputy Ag Commissioner Thomas Nyberg said in a statement: "Because of the light rain little damage is expected to be caused by embedded sand in the berries."

Nyberg says 50 percent of the Valley raisin crop is still in open trays.

He says in most areas, the underside of the trays remains dry. But there's trouble if it's wet.

Rebensdorff says he'll be back out again Tuesday, checking to see if his trays dry out, or if they need to be "slipped" or moved just a few inches so they unstick from the ground.

He says it's a painstaking process.

"Most of our grape pickers have already left the area, so we're hoping we can get some more people out here and just slip each tray," he said.

Jerry says the last time it rained and produced a crop disaster was 1982.

He says 1976 and 1978 were also disaster years due to rain.