California agriculture is hanging on during high heat

With the Central Valley locked in a heat wave, farmers are taking measures to keep farmworkers, farm animals and crops safe, reported the Modesto Bee.

Cows are being kept in the shade and cooled with fans, misters and plenty of drinking water. Chickens are kept in air-conditioned barns. California Division of Occupational Safety and Health requires farmers to provide workers water, shaded rest areas and emergency response plans.

UC Cooperative Extension offers extensive information on heat illness prevention online.

For the Modesto Bee story, reporter John Holland spoke to Roger Duncan, UCCE advisor in Stanislaus County, about the fate of tree crops in high heat.

The area's canning peach crop hasn't developed to the stage where hot weather causes a problem, Duncan said. Damage can occur when the fruit starts to ripen, which is still about 10 days away for early varieties.

The cling peach harvest is still a few weeks away.

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