Downpour Takes Big Bite Out of Crops : Agriculture: Deluge imposes $23-million toll, not counting citrus and avocados. Oxnard Plain suffers worst damage.

This week’s torrential rains delivered an estimated $23-million blow to Ventura County’s agricultural industry, with most damage occurring in the strawberry and vegetable fields of the low-lying Oxnard Plain, officials said Wednesday.

Moreover, that estimate could climb because it does not include avocado and citrus losses, officials said.

The rains caught many growers during harvest and could result not only in rotting crops but in costly delays in getting produce to market.

“At this point, this is the best estimate we could make,” said Dave Buettner, the county’s deputy agricultural commissioner. “It will probably go up higher.”

Although the actual crop damage is similar to the $5.3 million in losses suffered in the 1992 floods, Buettner said some crops are worth four times more now than they were then. The value of the county’s crops was estimated at $848 million in 1993.

The sharp losses come at a time when growers are grappling with an estimated $50 million in damage suffered since Medflies were discovered last fall in Camarillo.

“This is just another hit,” said Rex Laird, executive director of the Ventura County Farm Bureau.

Laird said the majority of the flooding damage occurred in the Oxnard Plain, where row crops prevail. The area contains about half of the county’s irrigated farmland.

“Most of the damage was in strawberries and vegetables,” Laird said. “But I don’t think there is anybody in the county that didn’t suffer some damage.”

The county’s strawberry and celery crops suffered the worst damage, $8.5 million and $6.5 million respectively. Other major crop losses include leaf lettuce, $2.4 million; broccoli, $1.5 million; cauliflower, $1.5 million; spinach, $1.4 million; green cabbage, $675,000; sod, $500,000; and nursery stock, $250,000.

Boskovich Farms Inc., which cultivates about 2,000 acres of strawberry and vegetable crops, suffered $750,000 to $1 million in damage, ranch supervisor Hank Maulhardt said.

“We took a big hit,” he said. “But it wasn’t as bad as it was in 1992. We lost close to $3 million then.”

Maulhardt said most of the losses occurred when Calleguas Creek, which collects water from an area that stretches from Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks to Camarillo, overflowed its banks near Camarillo State Hospital. He said Conejo Creek, which also borders the ranch property, breached its banks at several points.

“We had to shut down,” Maulhardt said. “But we were back out there today harvesting.”

Some growers, like Deardorff-Jackson Co., managed to avoid major losses despite the deluge.

“We had very little damage,” said Jim Bonner, whose company plants about 1,500 acres of celery and other crops on the Oxnard Plain. “We knew the storm was coming, so we worked all day Saturday and Sunday loading up our warehouses with product.”

Although no damage estimates were available for citrus and avocado crops, several growers said they suffered significant losses.

Alan Voorhees, who manages 80 acres of citrus in Camarillo for St. John’s Seminary and College, said about 10 acres of lemon trees were half-buried under four feet of mud and silt.

Voorhees said that workers were harvesting lemons and avocados when the rains hit. Most of the damage occurred when nearby Calleguas Creek overflowed, flooding the lemon fields.

“It’s a little early to tell what the damage is going to be,” he said. “But with this much mud and silt, we’re going to lose plenty. The mud and silt suffocate the trees, and it’s also bad for disease.”

Voorhees said the seminary’s groves had already been damaged by the Medfly infestation. Malathion spraying over a 16-square-mile area is expected to continue in the Camarillo area through March.

“We’ve had our share,” Voorhees said. “More than we’d like.”

But Kevin Hoffman, an entomologist with the state Department of Agriculture, said that the heavy rains--about 10 inches on the Oxnard Plain in a week--could have a bright side by drowning Medfly eggs in the soil.

“In general, insects are not too affected by rain,” Hoffman said. “But in this case, with the downpour we’ve had in the basin and other areas, it should have a negative effect on their survivability.”

But larvae already implanted in fruit would not be affected, he said, so Medflies would not be completely eliminated by the heavy rains.

Despite the severe crop damage, Laird said many growers will not need to irrigate their fields for at least two months. And Laird said farmers are used to working with the vagaries of nature.

“They’re not happy about it, but I’ve never found farmers to be whiners,” he said. “The vast majority just say, ‘That’s the breaks,’ and keep on trucking. They’re gamblers. They’re the same kind of guys who went out there and settled the West and all that.”

Contributing to Ventura County flood coverage were staff writers Miguel Bustillo, Sara Catania, Julie Fields, Carlos V. Lozano, Mary F. Pols, Constance Sommer and Kenneth R. Weiss. Correspondents Paul Elias, Scott Hadly, Jeff McDonald, J. E. Mitchell, Matthew Mosk, Catherine Saillant, Ira E. Stoll and Tracy Wilson also contributed.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

County Rainfall Here are rainfall figures from the Ventura County Flood Control Department for the 24-hour period ending at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Oct. 1 is the beginning of the official rain year.

Rainfall Rainfall Rainfall Normal rainfall Location last 24 hours since Jan. 3 since Oct. 1 to date Camarillo 0.67 8.03 11.38 5.38 Casitas Dam 1.10 14.00 21.12 9.11 El Rio 0.47 8.15 13.85 5.69 Fillmore 0.31 10.30 14.68 7.55 Moorpark 0.59 7.48 11.97 05.68 Ojai 0.91 10.20 19.03 7.94 Upper Ojai 1.34 22.70 23.44 8.45 Oxnard 0.43 9.17 13.01 05.46 Piru 0.63 8.70 15.02 06.48 Santa Paula 0.24 6.30 16.96 06.86 Simi Valley 0.71 8.94 11.59 5.41 Thousand Oaks 0.63 9.49 12.86 5.79 Ventura 0.47 11.7 14.38 6.05 Govt. Center

* AFTER THE STORM

County starts digging out. A1