California Loses Half of Orange Crop to Cold

By DAVAN MAHARAJ and ABIGAIL GOLDMAN

Dec. 24, 1998 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITERS

A lingering arctic freeze destroyed nearly half of California’s orange crop Wednesday, inflicting major economic damage to the Central Valley, which already has some of the highest unemployment in the nation.

Agriculture officials estimated that the state’s citrus industry so far has lost more than $590 million, including the entire lemon crop in the San Joaquin Valley. They warned that the loss could rise, with the frigid temperatures predicted to continue for at least another day.

Officials in Kern, Tulare and Fresno counties were planning to ask the state to declare their communities disaster areas so that farmers and other agricultural workers could receive federal aid.

California produces about 80% of the nation’s oranges eaten as fruit and 20% of the total orange crop. Wholesalers predict that supermarket prices for oranges could triple in the next few days.

Before Wednesday, the state’s growers had harvested only about 15% of their oranges. Joel Nelsen, president of California Citrus Mutual, the growers’ trade group, said that more than half of the remaining crop was destroyed.

There was little hope for reprieve. Forecasters said temperatures in the Central Valley would again drop into the low to mid-20s this morning and were expected to remain there for up to seven hours, long enough to inflict still more damage to the citrus crop.

“If you’re an orange farmer, that’s not good news,” said Wes Etheredge, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times.

“This looks like 1990 all over again,” said Nelsen, referring to the devastating freeze that robbed farmers of nearly $800 million in revenue eight years ago.

This year’s damage represents more than one-third of the $1.5 billion generated by the citrus industry, said Bob Krauter, a spokesman for the California Farm Bureau, the state’s largest farmers group.

“For farmers who’ve worked all year tending their crops, it’s painful and devastating to lose everything in a couple of nights,” Krauter said.

In Tulare County, which produces about half the state’s oranges, officials estimated that losses to the local citrus industry will exceed $370 million.

“This is definitely a disaster,” said Lenord Craft, Tulare County agriculture commissioner. “It’s almost a total wipeout.”

The crop damage is expected to cripple the economies of some small towns in the Central Valley, especially those that rely on citrus farming.

Tulare County, where the 16.2% unemployment rate is three times the national average, was already feeling the effects of the freeze.

In Lindsay, the LoBue Bros. packing plant--Tulare’s largest employer--laid off 450 of its 500 workers Wednesday morning, just two days before Christmas.

“We told them we could see them next week if the damage is not as severe as we think, or else we’ll see them next November when the picking and packing starts,” said Joe LoBue, a company director. “There’s not much we can do.”

Low-Paid Seasonal Workers Will Suffer

Joseph J. Penbera, an economist at Regency Bank and a professor at Cal State Fresno, said the crop losses will hurt lower-paid workers the most.

“Many of them depend on this seasonal work, so if they’re out of a job, it would obviously put pressure on social services and welfare,” Penbera said.

In Tulare and elsewhere, growers stayed up all night for the second consecutive night Wednesday, operating wind machines to churn up the cold air and running ground water to try to ease the sting of the cold. But for many it didn’t work.

When Darwin Smith, an orange grower in Orland, 100 miles north of Sacramento, sliced into his fruit, the segments inside were frozen and had turned to mush.

“It’s like biting into an orange slush,” he said.

“Basically I’ve lost my 75 acres [of navel oranges]. We’re out of business for this year,” said Smith, who added that he will lay off most of his 25 workers.

In the Southland, farmers were hoping that the freeze will spare them.

On Wednesday, temperatures dipped below freezing in some areas of the Inland Empire and Orange and Ventura counties, but didn’t remain there long enough to cause visible damage.

Though losses to citrus, avocado and strawberry crops will not be known until next week, early estimates suggest they were minimal.

But the misfortune suffered by Central Valley growers means that consumers will pay dearly for citrus in the grocery stores--if they can find it.

Because the lemons destroyed in the San Joaquin Valley represented 15% of the state’s crop, prices are likely to increase by the first of the year. Orange prices on the wholesale market are already soaring. Navel oranges that were 35 cents a pound Tuesday had skyrocketed to 90 cents a pound Wednesday, said David John, an export buyer for General Produce in Sacramento.

“You will find product for the next couple of days, because of what is already in the system,” John said. “By the end of next week, availability will be very thin.”

John said he expects to see some oranges brought in from Texas and Florida.

“The handling expense and the lack of availability will mean higher prices from Texas and Florida,” John said. And, he said, “the taste is also not as sweet as California” fruit.

But on Wednesday, the availability of sweeter fruit was the last thing on the minds of many growers and workers in the Central Valley.

Nick Hill, who owns the 1,300-acre Greenleaf Farms in Orange Cove, said the workers who pick and pack his fruit are worried about their jobs and prospects for the coming year. Orange Cove is a rural community in the San Joaquin Valley, where up to half of the 8,000 residents rely on welfare.

“They know that they may literally be thrown out of work,” Hill said. “In some of these small towns here, unemployment could reach as high as 60% because of this freeze.”

Citrus Losses Will Hurt Other Industries

In 1990, when a similar freeze hit the region, restaurants, retail businesses and auto dealerships either closed or suffered from the fallout, said Fresno Mayor Jim Patterson.

“We would expect a similar effect this time because the cash crop is going to be all but gone,” Patterson said. “Even though we’re trying to make our economy less dependent on agriculture, this will have a crippling effect on many of our towns up and down the valley.”

Newly elected Assemblyman Mike Briggs (R-Fresno), whose district covers much of Fresno and Tulare counties, said he is coordinating disaster relief efforts to help minimize the effects of the freeze.

The three hard-hit counties will probably ask the state next week to declare the region a disaster area so that workers can receive extended unemployment benefits and farmers could be eligible for low-interest loans.

“To whatever extent the state could offer aid to farmers and workers, we’re going to seek the full benefits,” said Briggs, a former Fresno city councilman.

For now, Fresno County is holding off on declaring a state of emergency while county administrators survey the damage.

“Right now, we don’t know if it’s just confined to citrus, or what other aspects the emergency may involve, so you don’t want to go in too quickly,” said Pam Carozza, Fresno’s deputy county administrative officer.

“We will not make the declaration until probably this weekend sometime, but it will be retroactive to the 20th” of December, she said.

Based on the value of last year’s navel orange crop, Fresno County agriculture officials estimate that losses there run as high as $68 million if 80% of the crop is lost.

The fiscal outlook is even more dismal for the broader local economy, said Robert Vandergon, the county’s assistant agriculture commissioner. Fresno County generally assesses the crop’s value to the community to be 3.5 times its market price.

WINTER COATS COUNTRY: Icy roads caused deadly car wrecks in at least five states, as a cold wave hit the South. A5

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

When citrus freezes

1. Cells inside fruit segments crystallize.

2. Cells pop, breaking membrane.

3. When cells thaw, juice flows freely.

4. Juice seeps through and dries out skin.

5. Fruit is left dry and inedible.

Percentage of U.S. crop grown in California

Lemons: 90%

Oranges: 20%

Counties with worst damage (early estimate)