Citrus Growers Wary of Winter Weather

Most long-range weather forecasts call for a wet winter.

This may or may not be good for Ventura County citrus growers, notes Daniel M. Galbraith, who has just been promoted from assistant manager to manager of Limoniera Co.’s orange packinghouse in Santa Paula.

“If we get about 20 inches of rainfall, that’s fine; but if we get much more than that, the moisture could do our crops more harm than good,” he said.

Another potential danger facing the county’s farmers is freezing weather.

Galbraith has no idea how cold this winter will be, but he’ll be watching the temperature closely from mid-December through February, when freezes are most likely to occur.

“We can take a few nights of subfreezing, but if it gets too cold, especially for a sustained period, citrus can be in trouble.”

This year’s domestic navel orange crop is expected to total about 77,000 “cars,” Galbraith said. That’s down from last year’s unusually high 90,000 cars and bodes well for prices, he noted.

“Cars” refers to railroad boxcars, each of which theoretically can hold 1,000 cartons of oranges.