Frigid temps freeze county crops
Ag officials estimate crop loss at $94 million
By Sylvie Belmond belmond@theacorn.com

SEBASTIAN RAMIREZ/Acorn Newspapers FROZEN SOLID- Lemons growing near Moorpark show the effects of the severe cold front that swept through the area last weekend.

Ventura County farmers found themselves once again at the mercy of Mother Nature as an arctic front engulfed Southern California last weekend.

Local ranchers and farmers watched the temperatures plunge and their crops destroyed, prompting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to declare the area a state of emergency.

"We have significant damage out there, but we can't give a dollar value," said Earl McPhail, Ventura County agricultural commissioner. "It will be a week or so before we know the extent of the damage."

The county's usual temperate climate and fertile soil allows for year-round multicrop production that yields a gross annual value of about $1.3 billion, according to the commissioner's 2004 Crop Report.

The freeze damaged produce across the board, including lemons, oranges, avocados, strawberries, blueberries, nursery stock and row crops, McPhail said.

Consumers nationwide will feel the effects of the California crop losses in the form of price increases at the supermarket.

The summer's hot temperatures and recent lack of rain had already stressed many crops, and when the cold front came through, the shock was compounded, McPhail said.

Moorpark temperatures were slightly higher than those in the Camarillo area where they plunged to 24 degrees for more than six hours on Saturday and Sunday.

"Anything below 28 degrees for more than two hours will cause damage," McPhail said.

When A.G. Kawamura, state secretary of Food and Agriculture, visited Ventura County ranches on Monday to assess damages, the temperatures were chilly and the winds were swirling.

"It's a cumulative effect. We won't know the extent of the damage for several days," said Nancy Lundgren, spokesperson for the California Food and Agriculture Department.

"When avocados freeze, they aren't any good- they turn black and get mushy," said Steve Barnard, president of Mission Avocados, Inc., a packer and distributor based in Oxnard.

For some plants, the frost could also affect next year's crop.

Statewide, damages will be in the billions, Barnard said.

Often overlooked, he added, is the huge impact the freeze will have on employment. Temporary job losses will affect harvesters, packing plant employees, truck drivers and subcontractors.

Even suppliers of basic goods such as cartons will be affected, Barnard said.

Farms and ranches owned by the Underwood family also suffered losses. The blueberry and strawberry crops were hit the hardest, said Craig Underwood, owner of Underwood Family Farms in Moorpark and Somis and Underwood Ranch, which controls 800 acres in Camarillo, Las Posas and the Santa Clara Valley.

"The current blueberry and strawberry crops and bloom are gone," said Underwood, who anticipates the loss from blueberries alone to be $300,000.

But he considers himself fortunate compared to farmers in other California areas.

"The San Joaquin Valley lost all its citrus crop and it will have huge impacts on everyone," Underwood said.

Oranges will be in short supply and the price of orange juice will go up, he said. "There will be shortages across the board."

Schwarzenegger's declaration of emergency will clear the way for federal disaster fund requests, Lundgren said.

Figures need to be compiled before those requests can be made, she said.

"Now is the time for the assessment, and we can't do much more than that. It's up to growers to check the impact of the cost on their trees in the next few days," Lundgren said.

The state Office of Emergency Services will help verify actual losses and the numbers will be relayed to the federal government.