Farmers brace for more cold weather

By: PATRICK WRIGHT - Staff Writer | Monday, January 22, 2007 7:58 PM PST ∞

With nighttime temperatures forecasted to be near freezing again this week, local growers are bracing for the worst. Some area farmers have been sleeping during the day, so they can be awake all night to take care of crops, local farmers said Monday.

Last week's State of Emergency Proclamation isn't going to help most growers, because they don't typically apply for the low-interest loans available, according to several local farmers. Instead, they prefer to dip into savings accounts or use tax breaks to deal with the losses.

Eric Larson, executive director of the San Diego County Farm Bureau, said growers and nurseries are battling to keep already damaged plants and crops from suffering further.

"If they were damaged, they could be in trouble," he said. "Another freezing could be the coup de grace."

The National Weather Service in Rancho Bernardo said the cold weather comes from a similar Arctic current that caused the freezing temperatures last week. Nighttime temperatures are expected to drop below freezing in some areas until Thursday. They could go as low as the high 20s tonight, but should rise to about 35 near the end of the week.

Although agricultural officials are still assessing the damage, projected tens of millions of dollars, more information is emerging on the impact of the cold temperatures:

- Strawberry damage is projected to be worse than previously stated. While the California Strawberry Commission downplayed the seriousness last week, it now appears that San Diego County could lose 50 percent to 80 percent of the current crop, which was close to harvesting. Strawberries accounted for $27 million of the county's agricultural production in 2005.

San Diego County Agricultural Commissioner Robert Atkins said major local strawberry growers will need six weeks to overcome the losses. They count on the financial boon created from having the earliest berries on the market.

- The state issued an emergency call for more insurance adjusters to deal with the anticipated increase in insurance claims. California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner issued a release saying that his emergency declaration would bring out-of-state adjusters to speed up the crop-loss claims of state farmers.

- Many growers refuse to go into debt to make up for a bad year, area farmers said. The low interest loans that will become available with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's state of emergency declaration last week come with several stipulations. For example, farmers must have been rejected for a private loan and demonstrate that they lost at least 30 percent of a specific crop.

- Commissioner Atkins preferred to wait a few days to get accurate figures before submitting them to the governor to add to the list of county's eligible for federal assistance. The action caused the county to be left off the governor's letters to the U.S. Small Business Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday requesting federal help for farmers and businesses affected by the cold weather.

-- Contact staff writer Patrick Wright at (760) 739-6675 or pwright@nctimes.com.