Daylight saving time started in 1918 as a way to help with World War 1, but many believe it also was made to benefit farmers.
Local farmers say losing an hour for daylight saving time in the spring only helps some produce, and can make things trickier before clocks turn back in the fall.
You have to pick your products still, but then we’re going to be delayed for two hours because we have to wait two hours for the sun to come and dry everything up, said Norma Romero, who sells produce at Bautista Family Farms.
Romero says if some produce is wet when harvested, it can cause it to rot.
She adds that if California didnt gain an hour in the fall with daylight saving, their operating schedule would be behind, potentially causing a loss in sales.
Keeping the daylight savings would be something very beneficial for us because we don’t really want to wait two hours to go pick for something and then we’re going to be in a rush, because by 12, we need, we need it to be done, Romero said.
While Californians voted to eliminate daylight saving time in 2018, congressional approval is still needed.
I would say that, that a lot of farmers would rather just pick one or the other, said Brian Talley, CEO of Talley Farms..
Talley says theyve seen a shift toward centering harvesting schedules around the weather instead of only working when the sun is out, taking away the necessity of daylight saving time.
We really cater our work schedules to the weather, and so when it gets warm, we tend to do a lot more work at night or very, very early in the morning, Talley said.
Daylight saving time takes effect Sunday at 2 a.m.