Avocado redux

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The wildfires ripped into some of the richest areas of the state’s avocado crop, including the foothills above Irvine in Orange County and Fallbrook and Valley Center in San Diego County.

Based on early reports, an official with the California Avocado Commission said the state might have lost 10% to 20% of what was expected to be a $325 million to $350 million crop in 2008.

If the damage is limited to that estimate, prices -- already high from a January freeze -- are unlikely to take much of a jump, said the commission’s Wayne Brydon.

-- Jerry Hirsch