Emergency Is Declared in 4 Counties Hit Hard by Freeze

Moving to provide financial relief to the state’s ravaged citrus industry, Gov. Pete Wilson declared a state of emergency Tuesday in four Central California counties hit hardest by last week’s freezing temperatures that destroyed a major portion of the lemon and orange crops.

Wilson’s declaration--affecting Fresno, Kern, Madera and Tulare counties--was welcome news for citrus farmers who recorded more than $500 million in losses from four straight days of bitter cold.

The governor’s action could speed unemployment benefits to hundreds of agricultural workers who were laid off following the freeze--if the federal government follows suit. A federal disaster declaration would also enable citrus growers to receive grants and low-interest loans.

After signing the emergency declaration, Wilson said it was “entirely probable” that other neighboring counties could join the list of disaster areas as their agricultural commissioners continue to tally crop damage.

“We are doing what you have seen us do on many occasions--acting to trigger a federal response,” Wilson said.

A few hours after Wilson’s declaration, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) urged President Clinton to declare emergencies in the four counties.

“The impact of this disaster will be felt far beyond the citrus growers who have lost much of their crop,” Feinstein wrote in a letter to Clinton. “Hundreds of farm workers have already been laid off, some just days before Christmas. The ripple effect from the crop loss is expected to have a crippling impact on the local economy, which is highly dependent on agriculture.”

As politicians jockeyed to help provide disaster aid, most citrus growers who returned to their orchards after spending Christmas with their families said they were heartened by what they saw: less damaged fruit, meaning their losses may not be as high as they had initially feared.

State officials last week estimated total damage to the orange, lemon and grapefruit crops in the Central Valley at $591 million.

On Tuesday, officials of California Citrus Mutual, the growers’ trade group, said a more realistic estimate would be about $530 million. (California grows 90% of the nation’s lemons and 80% of oranges eaten as fruit.)

David Brown, a grower in Orange Cove, 40 miles south of Fresno, said he was pleased that at least some of his oranges appear to have been spared.

Brown, who operates D Bar J Orchards, thought he had lost all the fruit on his 300-acre farm. When he inspected the groves Tuesday, the lemons were a total loss, he said, but at least half of the navel oranges could be salvaged.

Brown said his crop insurance would reimburse a third of his expected income for the year.

“Right now, we’re only trying to ensure that we don’t lose everything,” Brown said.

Nick Hill, manager of Greenleaf Farms in Tulare County, said his entire lemon crop was wiped out. He plans to send the damaged fruit to be processed into juice.

He is cautiously optimistic about the orange crop, he said, noting that it still could take another week for the damage to manifest itself.

Damage that he thought would show up immediately has yet to emerge, Hill said.

“Given the temperatures and the duration, I think that’s a good sign,” he said.

Bob Krauter, a spokesman for the California Farm Bureau Federation, the state’s largest farmers organization, said that even though some growers remain optimistic, the situation “is still bad.”

“It’s been too cold and the fruit isn’t really thawing out to where you can see the damage,” Krauter said. “I don’t think that anybody is thinking they have gotten out of this thing.”

Consumers were not yet feeling the full effect of the freeze, although they will soon, according to Peter Larkin, president of the California Grocers’ Assn.

“If the damage is as severe as they originally thought, you just won’t be able to get them at any price,” Larkin said. “ . . . You can’t manufacture an orange.”

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Times staff writer Dave Lesher in Sacramento contributed to this report.