Cold weather losses top $100 million

By: PATRICK WRIGHT - Staff Writer | Thursday, March 1, 2007 10:41 PM PST ∞

NORTH COUNTY ---- Record cold spells in January cost San Diego County almost $115 million in lost agricultural products, with avocados taking the biggest hit at $38 million, according to a county report released Thursday.
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The subfreezing temperatures, as low as 16 degrees inland, did at least some damage to 76 percent of all county farms and 97 percent of agricultural acreage, the county agricultural commissioner's report said.

San Diego County's agriculture is a $1.5 billion industry, according to 2005 figures, the most recent available.

Bedding plants, such as petunias and marigolds, and ornamental trees, such as palms and magnolias, also suffered heavy financial losses, totaling $23.6 million and $16.5 million, respectively.

The unusual cold snap could cripple local avocado production for years to come, if the frost did extensive damage to bud wood, the branches where new fruit grows, according to one farm expert. The potential damage cannot be assessed for now.

Other hard-hit crops included: cut flowers and foliage, with losses of $8 million; lemons, $6.3 million; herbs, $5 million; strawberries, $4.6 million, and herbaceous perennials (plants that typically survive more than one year) $2.7 million.

Soon after the frost, county agricultural officials predicted that the monetary damage to agriculture would be around $100 million. The real problem, according to a county farm bureau official, is that these growers will have to absorb these losses unless they get federal grants.

"I think this is devastating," said Eric Larson, executive director of the San Diego County Farm Bureau, a nonprofit farmers association. "That's money out of people's pockets."

The long-awaited report details the damage done from below-freezing, nighttime temperatures that hit the county from Jan. 13 through Jan. 24. Cold weather statewide caused $1.8 billion in damage to agriculture, the state Department of Food and Agriculture reported, and kept many growers up late into the night trying to protect crops.

Cold temperatures led to a Jan. 31 natural disaster declaration by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, covering 18 California counties, including San Diego and Riverside. That declaration allows growers to get federal low-income loans to cover losses.

Several growers have said they aren't interested in taking on more debt to cover crop losses. But they have said they would apply for federal grants made possible if President Bush declares the 18 California counties federal disaster areas. Growers would not have to return money from grants, unlike loans.

Steve Lyle, director of public affairs for the California agriculture department, said Thursday that the state's request for a presidential declaration is pending.

Overall, the following crops in the county suffered losses of more than 30 percent: grapefruit, lemons, wax flowers, guava and limes. The losses for those five crops included almost 7,000 acres and totalled $11.5 million.

But damage assessments are far from over. Larson, from the farm bureau, said growers are reporting damage to the bud wood in several trees and groves. If bud wood on crops, particularly avocados, is destroyed, that would reduce agricultural production for years.

"Over time, it will be a lot worse," he said. "That's the shadow effect of all this."

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