U.S. Declares Disaster Areas Over Citrus Freeze

The Clinton administration on Friday declared 18 counties in California disaster areas, allowing farmers to receive federal aid after their crops suffered $657 million in damage in a cold snap last month.

The disaster designation allows farmers to apply for low-interest government loans.

The 18 counties that are now federal disaster areas include: Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Mono, Monterey, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Tulare, Tuolumne and Ventura.

In December, four consecutive nights of freezing temperatures ruined the region’s entire lemon crop and damaged large sections of its lucrative orange groves.

“The December freeze in California robbed so many farmers of their livelihood, putting more than 14,000 California farm workers’ jobs in jeopardy,” Vice President Al Gore said in a statement.

This month, the U.S. Agriculture Department slashed its estimate for this season’s California orange crop to 38 million 67-pound boxes, down from the previous forecast of 62 million boxes.

Damage to the state’s oranges is estimated at $485.5 million. By comparison, the state’s annual orange production is about $587 million, state agriculture officials said.

California produces about 80% of oranges eaten as fruit in the United States and 20% of the U.S. orange crop. Immediately after the freeze, wholesale orange prices doubled to about $20 per 40-pound carton.

California’s last major winter cold snap in 1990 caused nearly $800 million in losses.