CAMARILLO : Supervisors Extend Medfly Emergency
The Ventura County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday agreed to extend the local emergency for the Medfly infestation, which could cost farmers in the Camarillo area as much as $50 million in lost crops.
The proclamation of local emergency ensures that the county will be eligible for reimbursement for Medfly eradication costs from state and federal government programs. Rex Laird, executive director of the Ventura County Farm Bureau, said agriculture officials estimate that farmers in the 16-square-mile spray zone could suffer substantial crop damage.
But Laird said the $50-million figure is based on current crop prices and could go up or down depending on the market and when the project is completed.
Malathion spraying began shortly after the first Medfly was found Sept. 29 in a Camarillo orange grove. The sixth spraying was completed last Wednesday, and the next spraying is scheduled for Jan. 17.
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