Citrus Crop in Peril

By David Courtland, The Porterville Recorder, Calif.

Jan. 16–Tulare County citrus growers are increasingly pessimistic about crop loss from this week’s freezing weather, industry officials said Monday.

“What I’ve heard is that most of the growers feel this is beginning to approach December, 1998,” for severity, said Gary Kunkel, Tulare County’s agriculture commissioner.

“We’ve lost most of the citrus, quite a large percentage of oranges and lemons,” Kunkel said. “There’s no question it’s very serious.”

Bob Blakely of California Citrus Mutual agreed a substantial amount of the Central Valley’s estimated $1 billion citrus crop is gone.

“We know that there are areas that have sustained moderate damage to their crops that still will be packable,” said Blakely, Citrus Mutual’s director of grower services.

“There are others that are a total loss,” continued Blakely, who said it might be 10-14 days before officials could make an accurate estimate of the total loss.

Battling the cold has cost Central Valley growers an estimated $85 million since Thursday, said Blakely.

Temperatures ranged from 19 to 26 degrees in the region Sunday night, Blakely said.

Monday night will be critical, as regional temperatures are expected to range from 21 to 27 degrees.

Two to four hours of lower than 26 degrees is damaging to citrus, said Blakely, adding that water and wind machines can raise temperatures a couple of degrees.

“They make a difference,” Blakely said. “The more (temperature) inversion we have, the better they work.”

Kunkel said inspectors are still checking for damage to stock at Woodlake nurseries, where workers have piled tarps on greenhouses and put heaters under stock.

The cold weather has primarily affected citrus groves; Kunkel said other crops have not been as affected.

Kunkel said the region has very little of two crops that were heavily damaged in 1998, avocados and broccoli.

“Cattle will generally come through this OK,” Kunkel said. “Cold doesn’t bother them as much as heat like we had last summer.”

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