Yuma Center of Excellence for Desert Agriculture

Yuma’s winter agriculture season usually ends around April but this year it ended a few weeks early.  

The COVID-19 pandemic led to industry shutdowns that spoiled the market for commercial fresh produce. 

Farmers in Yuma say they had to destroy acres of lettuce, some already packaged for shipping.  The impacts of the pandemic on farmers will continue into the new growing season.

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the local, state and federal response to it are wide ranging, impacting Yuma's biggest and smallest industries.

On Arizona Edition on KAWC, we'll explore the impacts of the coronavirus on the local agriculture industry, which saw markets drop and inventory destroyed.

The coronavirus pandemic has impacted many industries, including Yuma’s agriculture business. 

While farmworkers have stayed on the job during the current global situation, experts say the food services industry, which is responsible for the bulk packaging that goes to restaurants, suppliers, airlines and schools has been affected.

In Yuma, Arizona, the Colorado River is not what it was.  For thousands of years, its raging water deposited rich soil in the delta, creating one of the most verdant agricultural areas in the world.  Today, the river flow is 1 percent of what it was a century ago, but agriculture continues to thrive even as the water needed to maintain it dwindles due to over-allocation and drought. 

Yuma, Arizona provides the majority of winter leafy greens in the U.S. and Salinas, California grows those same crops in the summer.  When harvest periods in the two areas don’t align, it can create a lettuce shortage—like the one that just ended.  For the Arizona Science Desk, Maya Springhawk Robnett reports…