Heat and humidity in California's Salinas Valley are driving disease pressure and lower yields on lettuce and leaf items, just as back-to-school demand is ramping up. The ProduceIQ report also flags that hurricane season is now an active variable in supply planning across multiple growing regions.
Salinas is the backbone of U.S. lettuce supply for most of the year. Disease-driven yield losses during a demand uptick is a classic setup for price spikes. Any tropical system that threatens Yuma, the Gulf Coast, or Florida growing areas would compound an already tightening picture.
Category managers on leafy greens should watch Salinas field reports closely over the next few weeks. If a named storm enters the Gulf, the ripple effects on supply could be fast-moving.