State Revises Freeze Damage to $634 Million

December’s freeze packed a $634-million punch for California’s farm industry, agricultural officials said Friday in revising upward their earlier damage estimates.

Separately, Gov. Gray Davis declared a state of emergency in Monterey and Kings counties because of the cold weather. Last week, outgoing Gov. Pete Wilson issued a similar proclamation for Fresno, Kern, Madera and Tulare counties.

The latest damage estimate, up from an earlier figure of $591 million released soon after the pre-Christmas freeze, is based on figures compiled by county agricultural commissioners. Hardest hit was the citrus industry, with $473.7 million in losses to oranges and $101.5 million in damage to lemons.

Counties experiencing the most significant losses are Tulare, the state’s leader in citrus, with $293.2 million; Kern, $168.8 million; Ventura, $74.3 million; Fresno, $57.7 million; and Madera, $14.3 million. To date, 18 counties have reported losses, the California Department of Food and Agriculture said.

Noting that some farmers lost their entire crops, the state’s top farm official said everyone from growers to workers to consumers stands to suffer.

“Ultimately, the results of this devastation will be felt by just about all of us in some way,” said Bill Lyons Jr., state agriculture secretary, who spent Thursday touring areas hit by the cold snap.

Already, shoppers are seeing higher prices for oranges. And harvest crews and packing plant workers are being squeezed as many San Joaquin Valley operations remain shuttered. At least eight packinghouses have closed, and most growers have postponed picking until they can assess the level of damage to fruit still on trees.

County agricultural commissioners said it is difficult to attribute farm country layoffs directly to the freeze, since the period between Christmas and early to mid-January is typically quite slow for the citrus industry.

But Lenord Craft, Tulare County agricultural commissioner, said it is possible that 9,500 workers could be laid off if projections of a 75% crop loss prove correct. The Central Valley citrus industry directly employs more than 13,000 workers, including everyone from the owners of packinghouses to their employees and workers in trade associations. In Tulare County, citrus is a $450-million industry.

Relief efforts are springing up in rural towns to provide displaced workers and their families with food and clothing.

“We haven’t felt the full effect of it yet,” said Lynette Bell, with the state Employment Development Department in Sacramento. So far, she said, new claims for unemployment insurance in Fresno, Kern, Madera and Tulare counties that can be attributed to the freeze total 1,514. However, any undocumented workers would not be eligible for benefits.

In a letter to the White House on Friday, U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) urged President Clinton to designate the affected counties as federal disaster areas to qualify growers and workers for federal relief programs.

In some counties, growers are attempting to salvage a small portion of their costs by selling oranges unsuitable for the fresh market to juicing plants.

The freeze continues to have effects on companies that depend on an abundant flow of fruit. Dole Food Co. of Westlake Village has said that it will take a $20-million charge in the fourth quarter. The frost killed 6,500 acres of citrus crops and forced Dole to close three packing plants.

On Friday, Odwalla Inc., a juice company based in Half Moon Bay, Calif., said it expects soon to raise its price for orange juice because it will be paying more for oranges. The price increase could reduce sales and “result in further operating losses,” the company indicated.

For the first quarter ended Nov. 28, Odwalla reported a net loss of $479,000 on sales of $15.3 million, compared with a loss of $175,000 on sales of $14.2 million in the same period last year.

“Orange juice represents roughly 30% to 40% of our juice production,” said spokesman Chris Gallagher, who said the juice is also used in blended beverages.

For the last two years, Odwalla has suffered losses as it recovers from the effects of an outbreak of an illness traced to the company’s unpasteurized apple juice.