Fog impacting farming? Agricultural expert weighs in: "It's crucial"

With dense fog permeating different areas throughout Northern California and San Joaquin County over the past few weeks, it's affected visibility on the roads and on agricultural land.

So, with this recent fog, CBS News Sacramento spoke to an agricultural expert getting answers on the fog's potential impact on farming in the area, and specifically in San Joaquin County, which relies heavily on its agricultural industry.

Daniel A. Sumner is director of the UC Agricultural Issues Center and the Frank H. Buck Distinguished Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.

"Some people forget that farming is one of the most dangerous occupations there is, whether you're climbing up and down ladders, carrying big bags of peaches, or dealing with livestock that can sometimes be unruly," Sumner said. "It's a dangerous occupation in many ways, and some of that is because it's outside, and it can be cold and damp, and as you say, foggy and hard to see what's going on as usual, you want everybody to be careful, when they're getting the work done."

The fog's been heavy, and while maybe inconvenient, it's also essential for crops.

"When we don't have enough fog, that often might mean it's a little too warm," Sumner said. "And that is a disadvantage. Our agriculture is set up to take advantage of hot summers and cool, but not cold, winters. So we don't need freezing time, but we need…several hundred hours during the winter below about 40 or 45 degrees or so. Those are called chill hours, and it's crucial for a number of our tree crops, especially."

Sumner said fog this time of year provides moisture and is helpful for trees to set their buds for next year.

"Fog this time of the year is real normal," Sumner said. "And less normal, in the last decade or so, because of climate change, we're not harvesting very much this time of year, there's a whole lot of pruning going on about now. There's some harvesting of citrus…it is inconvenient to get work done when it's foggy, but workers are used to it, and it's not like blazing hot sun in the summertime in terms of danger for workers and the like."

San Joaquin County houses a multi-billion-dollar agriculture industry. Sumner said farmers know what they're doing - even amidst the fog.

"San Joaquin is one of the big farm counties in California," Sumner said. "Dairy is a large industry, but so are wine grapes. These days, so are almonds and walnuts and tomatoes and other crops. It is a central part of the Central Valley…it's right in the middle of the Central Valley, and that's important for lots of crops. The other thing for San Joaquin County is it's in the middle of the road system, and getting crops out to port, out of the ports, and into the world markets."

Sumner also said San Joaquin County needs a little more moisture with less rain so far in December, and that the 'misty mornings' are good for crops. 

So, even though the morning commute may be affected by the fog, it's actually really beneficial for your neighboring agricultural land.