Freeze Sends Orange Prices Soaring : Agriculture: Buyers paying 40 cents more per pound at Lucky. Navel crop is expected to be gone by the end of January.

While the state’s citrus growers prepared themselves for yet another wave of cold weather, California consumers on Friday were getting their first taste of higher citrus prices linked to last week’s deep freeze.

At Lucky supermarkets in Southern California, the price of a pound of navel oranges has skyrocketed to 99 cents a pound from 59 cents. “We are paying substantially more for produce and it’s having to be reflected in the prices that are being charged to customers,” said Meredith Anderson, spokeswoman for the 411-store chain.

The cost of nearly all produce linked to the freeze “has more than doubled,” said Jack H. Brown, chairman of the 104-store Stater Bros. supermarket chain, where navel oranges rose from 59 cents to 89 cents a pound.

But consumers will not be complaining about California navel orange prices in three weeks because there will probably be none left to buy, said Joel Nelsen, president of the California Citrus Mutual, a growers association. “You’re not going to see California navels by the end of January . . . you usually see them through the end of June.”

Agricultural inspectors have set up check points at Gorman and other sites to prevent truck shipments of damaged fruit from reaching stores, said Nelsen.

In the state’s citrus groves, growers were hauling away damaged fruit and inspecting trees for signs of serious damage--like splitting wood--that may prevent the trees from bearing fruit next season or, in the most severe cases, require their destruction. “If you have any splitting of the wood, that’s not a good sign at all,” said Bob Krauter, spokesman for California Farm Bureau.

Growers were also taking steps to protect the trees from the latest cold wave that is sweeping down the state. Although not expected to be as severe as the previous cold snap, growers are not taking any chances, said Nelsen.

“There is not any fruit to lose--the real concern is about the trees,” said Nelsen. “They are more susceptible to damage from cold temperatures.” The trees are at risk when temperatures dip below 22 degrees, he said.

Eleven counties statewide notified the California Department of Food and Agriculture of their intentions to declare emergencies, a spokesman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture said Friday.

Officials from the counties of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Fresno, Ventura, Tulare, Kern, Madera, Riverside, San Bernardino, Imperial and Glenn had sent preliminary notices to the department, said Joe Bandy, regional coordinator for the department in Sacramento.

Ventura County’s director of disaster services declared an emergency Friday after an estimated $100 million in citrus and vegetable crop losses from last weekend’s freeze.

In Fresno County, the state’s largest agricultural producer, a disaster declaration awaited signatures from county supervisors and was expected to be forwarded to Gov. George Deukmejian for his signature.

Fresno citrus growers suffered an estimated $60 million in losses, with damage on the $95-million vegetable crops not yet assessed, Deputy Agriculture Commissioner Dennis Plann said.

Times staff writer Joanna Miller in Ventura contributed to this story.