AVOCADO GROWERS BLOWN OUT.

Byline: David Greenberg Staff Writer

With Super Bowl Sunday the second-biggest day of the year for guacamole sales, Ventura County's avocado growers are scrambling as Santa Ana winds threaten their harvest, agriculture officials said Tuesday.

Wind gusts reaching 65 mph during the past two weeks have ripped 5 percent to 15 percent of this year's crop - a large portion of which is too immature or damaged to be sold on the market, industry experts said.

Produce shippers won't accept avocados that fall below the state maturity standard of containing 8 percent oil within the fruit's meat or avocados that have been scarred.

``The winds are always a concern,'' said Charles Schwabauer, whose family co-owns Leavens Ranches in Moorpark and Santa Paula. ``If the winds blow the fruit off the tree before it's mature, it's just trash. You've just lost that much of your crop.''

Avocados account for roughly 6 percent of the county's $1 billion-a-year farming industry.

Schwabauer estimated that 15 percent of the ranch's current crop has fallen off the trees and it's too early to tell how much can be salvaged.

While industry experts said some of the crop can be saved if it is picked off the ground within five days after it falls, local pickers are retrieving the fruit within 24 hours to prevent rotting from high heat.

As a result, packers who generally buy 4 million to 10 million pounds of avocados a week throughout the year, are currently handling an additional 10 million a week, including an estimated 1 million from Ventura County.

Farmers want to sell their windfall crop as soon as possible because the less mature fruit also have a shorter shelf life.

Ross Wileman, vice president of sales for Mission Produce, an Oxnard packer, said his company is selling the windfall fruit only on consignment.

``Until we grade it out and evaluate it, we really don't have a clue as to the marketability of the fruit,'' he said. ``It's supply and demand. You have to lower the price to find a level that will move the volume.''

A box of 24 to 96 avocados, which generally sells for $12 to $33 wholesale, is currently commanding only $6 to $19, said Robin Osterhues, marketing director for Calavo Growers of California, a cooperative.

But she said she believes farmers should not be pushing any panic buttons over possibly damaged crop.

``Most of it is sold,'' Osterhues said. ``It's a new crop which means that most of it is very firm. So by virtue of it falling down and hitting the ground, it's not going to damage the fruit.''