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Tomato rot worries linger for Solano County farmers after September rain

With warmer temperatures expected over the weekend, many farmers are concerned over their tomatoes rotting with the quick weather shift.

DIXON, Calif. — There's certainly no shortage of tomatoes at the site of Timothy & Vigue Farming in Dixon

"We've got, I'd like to say, about 5,000 acres, but we do about 1,500 of tomato," said Robert Pequeno, one of the managers at the farm. "Our tomatoes all go to either paste or grinding for ketchup or other stuff." 

However, all the heavy showers seen across the Sacramento region over the past several days is worrying Pequeno. He says there's been too much rain which led the farm to put a pause on harvesting tomatoes for several days due to muddy conditions. 

"We just had to stop. We couldn't keep going," said Pequeno. "We've had drought conditions for a number of years, and we need the rain but not at this time of the year, not during harvest." 

Almond crops at the farm were also impacted this year due to a winter freeze, according to Pequeno. With warmer temperatures expected over the weekend, many farmers are concerned over their tomatoes rotting with the quick weather shift. 

"It'll impact it when it gets hot later on and it starts molding. (It) Makes for hard conditions to harvest it," said Pequeno. "It's just part of farming, you know? You can't harvest them all because they go bad, but you get what you can." 

Farmers are hoping for some wind over the next few days to help dry out the crops before things start to warm up again.

"We want (rain) in November, December, January, back in those months. Not right now. If the good Lord hears me, 'Hold it back'," said Pequeno. 

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