In these parts, farmers have a reputation as complainers. And there are lots of things to complain about right now: tariffs, ICE raids, inflation for everything farms buy and deflation for everything they sell. But surprisingly — shockingly — the weather isn’t one of them. Any farmer you might ask in California right now would tell you that the weather for farming this year has been as perfect as they can remember.
I would imagine that at least half the CSA newsletters I have written in the last 30 years have included at least one complaint about the weather. It’s either too wet in the winter, or too dry. Sometimes it gets too cold in the winter or spring, but other years it’s not cold enough. And of course, there is the wind, which has destroyed dozens of our crops over the years.
But during the summer months, the only weather that warrants mentioning is the heat. Heat is the devil that all farmers in the Central Valley have sold their soul to — it is the thing we have to accept in exchange for the blue skies, sunshine and complete absence of rain during the growing season that make such perfect conditions for tomatoes, peaches, almonds, pistachios, watermelons, grapes, and other summer crops here. As the folks in Silicon Valley say, it’s feature, not a bug.
The average high temperature here in June, July and August is 94 degrees. Any day that it’s below 90 is a “cool” day for us. A “hot” day is over 100 degrees, and in an average summer we have 21 of those days. Hundred-degree days tend to come in gangs of three or more, but most people don’t consider it a “heatwave” unless it’s 105 or hotter for at least one of those days. During those longer stretches of heat, the nights stay much warmer as well and the heat starts earlier in the day.
When summer is too hot, even our “hot weather” crops suffer. Watermelons stop ripening, tomatoes drop their blossoms and make less fruit, and table grapes get sunburn. Sweet corn fails to pollinate, leaving empty gaps on the ears. The fall and winter storage crops that are growing during July and August suffer as well, reducing their yields at harvest. But an even bigger problem for us is that summer is also planting time for our fall and winter crops, which really hate the heat. There’s no point in planting crops like carrots or broccoli during a heatwave, and if one lasts more than a week, it results in gaps in our harvest during the fall and winter when they get stunted or just cooked outright. For humans, even simply tasks are more tiring and difficult than usual. Strenuous work becomes dangerous.
July is typically the hottest month of the year in Sacramento, and typically has the most triple-digit days. Last year, we had 25 days at or above 100 in July — many of those were well above, and numerous daily temperature records were set. You could say the entire month was a heatwave. July 2025 was about as different as could be imagined, as has been the entire summer so far. We only had one 100 degree day in July, and only a handful in June. The sun is noticeably less intense, as well. And the nights have been cool too, chilly even. It has been not just bearable to work outside, but actually comfortable and even enjoyable.
What’s even wilder is that the summer is a continuation of nearly perfect growing conditions that we have experienced since New Years. After five years in which extreme weather events: rainfall, cold, heat, and wind — have occurred multiple times each year, so far we are having a year without any. The only thing “extreme” about 2025’s weather is how nice it is has been.
Summer 2025 is at this point the coolest summer we’ve had since 2011. But summer 2011 was too cold for our crops, which suffered low yields and lots of disease as a result. This summer has been the opposite, with just about all of our crops producing the best we’ve seen in ages.
I don’t expect the Goldilocks conditions to last through December. I don’t see any big heatwaves coming before Labor Day, but statistically speaking our luck can’t hold out forever. Autumn is a true wild card for us at Terra Firma, with the potential for extreme weather including not just heat but frost, dry wind and torrential rain and flooding. Possibly all three. Globally, there has been no shortage of extreme weather this year — we’ve just managed to escape it so far. There are still almost five full months left in the year — plenty of time for the pendulum to swing back our way.
If and when that happens, I reserve the right to complain about it. But until then, I will keep enjoying the nicest summer ever.
Thanks,
Pablito