EARLY HARVEST OF STRAWBERRIES SUFFERS SETBACK.

Byline: Sonia Giordani Daily News Staff Writer

The latest deluge dealt a fierce blow to the region's $850 million agricultural industry Monday, nearly wiping out its lucrative early harvest strawberry crops.

Other farmers scrambling to harvest hundreds of acres of tender row crops ready to be picked also face expensive delays as they wait for their water-logged fields to dry out enough to start new plantings for the spring and summer.

``We have no dollar figures yet assessing the total damage, but I suspect it will be quite substantial, especially considering the long-term effects,'' said Ventura County Agricultural Commissioner Earl McPhail.

``This last storm caught us in an important transition period,'' he said. ``A lot of farmers were in the process of getting the fields bedded up for the next planting, but now they're not sure when they'll be able to get their equipment out there.''

Strawberry farmers have been combing their fields in between rainstorms, stripping the sturdy plants of their delicate fruit. Only a few acres of fresh berries have been salvaged for sale at prices of up to $1.50 per pound, McPhail said.

But most of the early season's strawberry crop - which last year generated more than $142 million - has been damaged. Rotting berries have been recycled into the ground while damaged but salvageable fruits have been sold to processing plants for juice - at only a dime to 15 cents per pound.

``This could be financially devastating for us and a lot of farmers in the county,'' said Mike Conroy, who grows about 100 acres of strawberries in the Oxnard Plain.

``Early harvest - it's always a crapshoot to begin with. You have to expect a fair amount of rain in January and February,'' Conroy said.

``What has us on edge is an extended forecast that this could last another four to six weeks. At that point, if we're not putting our berries on the fresh market there could be a really substantial loss,'' he added.

With almost continuous rain over the past three weeks dumping nearly 20 inches of water over the county this month alone, McPhail said this winter's storms could rival some of the worst years for Ventura County agriculture, including 1982-83 when about $50 million in agricultural damage was reported.

The county reported an estimated $19 million in damage last week, but that figure could grow by several tens of millions by some estimates.

``Ideally we will have four to five weeks of dry weather before we get another 1 to 2 inches of rain. The problem during El Nino years is that once the rain starts, we can't turn it off,'' said Terry Schaeffer, agricultural meteorologist and founder of Weather by Schaeffer.

While a brief respite is expected to hold through most of the week, more rainfall is expected next week. In fact, the chances of storms rolling through the county through March and even April are quite high, Schaeffer said.

``We've sure had better years,'' said John Lamb, owner of Cam-Lamb Farms whose 150 acres of avocado trees and 120 acres of lemon trees in Camarillo were affected by Monday's fierce storms.

While row crop and especially berry farmers have been hardest hit, farmers throughout the county have struggled to work their water-logged fields.

``My main problem has been with Conejo Creek rising so high. Our road essentially fell into the creek. Now I have a 20-foot cliff into the creek in the middle of my farm,'' Lamb said.

``I've lost several acres of land by the flooding and I have several pipelines in jeopardy. We can't really harvest right now,'' he said.

McPhail said the long-term impact of the continued storms could be felt several months from now into the summer harvest, which could cause agricultural damage to skyrocket.