“The trees have started dropping fruit prematurely, and quality of the juice is starting to decline,” said orange farmer John Barben.
That is pushing prices for orange juice higher.
Floods earlier this year in California’s “salad bowl” devastated all kinds of crops, from lettuce to strawberries, and now produce costs more.
Professor Patrick Penfield is a supply chain expert at Syracuse University.
He says crop issues in the Midwest led to higher feed costs for ranchers, and many are now raising fewer cattle.
“So now you’re gonna start seeing you know meat supply come down,” he said.
However, extreme weather may have provided one benefit.
All the rain in California that damaged crops also helped fill the state’s reservoirs, which running low after years of drought.
“And now the farmers in the next planting season will be able to tap that water,” said Penfield.
And that should help bring produce prices back down later this year.
