Wildfire update from the California Farm Bureau Federation

» Posted 4 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 8, 2007«

The wildfires that raced through San Diego County last month caused more than $42.6 million in crop damage alone, according to estimates released today by the county agricultural commissioner’s office.

More than half the damage occurred in avocados, with $24.1 million in losses on 1,722 acres.

Much of the rest of the reported damage was suffered in ornamental trees and shrubs ($7.3 million), cut flowers ($5.2 million), indoor flowering and foliage plants ($2.2 million), lemons ($1.6 million) and on poultry and egg ranches ($1.2 million).

The loss figures also demonstrate the diversity of San Diego County agriculture. In all, the agricultural commissioner recorded losses to 19 different crops and commodities, ranging from grapefruit and guavas to corn and tomatoes to macadamia nuts and Christmas trees. Nearly 8,700 acres of agricultural land were damaged in the fire, including almost 6,200 acres of rangeland.

The estimate included separate accountings for each of four wildfires that hit the county. The agricultural commissioner’s office reported $21.1 million in crop losses from the Witch Creek fire; $14.6 million in losses from the Rice Canyon fire; and nearly $7 million in damage from the Poomacha fire. It said it had heard of no losses in commercial agricultural production from the Harris fire.

The crop-damage figures do not include losses to irrigation systems, supplies, farm equipment or farm structures destroyed or damaged during the wildfires and windstorms that accompanied them.

The other two Southern California counties to report crop damage figures so far said most of the losses came from the fierce Santa Ana winds. Riverside County listed $15 million in crop damage last week, mainly to nursery products, avocados and lost production of milk and eggs. Ventura County had issued a preliminary estimate of $10 million to $15 million in losses to avocados blown from trees, and the county agricultural commissioner said there will also be unspecified losses to lemons.

Contact: Dave Kranz
Phone: 916/561-5550
news@cfbf.com

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