Local growers take major hit in freeze Sunkist counting losses.

The cold snap that has gripped Southern California since the beginning of the year has caused extensive damage to the Valley area's once thriving agricultural business, with Antelope, Simi and Conejo valley farmers reporting massive losses in valuable avocados, oranges and ornamental plants.

"I know people that have lost their entire crop," said Rex Laird, CEO of the Farm Bureau of Ventura County, which represents the county's $1.3 billion agricultural business.

Laird said damage has been concentrated among lemon, avocado and strawberry fields, although specific numbers will take months to compile.

"The biggest challenge is that the results of the freeze aren't instant. We won't know the total damage for several weeks," he said.

The chilly conditions prompted Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to declare a state of emergency in 10 counties, including Ventura County.

In Los Angeles County, the cold temperatures are credited with killing 100 acres of avocados, 20 acres of citrus produce and large amounts of tomatoes and ornamental shrubs and trees, said Laura E. Blank, executive director of the Los Angeles County Farm Bureau.

Regionally, the wintry conditions are estimated to have killed as much as 75 percent of the citrus crop in California and Arizona, said Claire Smith, a spokeswoman for Sherman Oaks-based Sunkist Growers Inc., a cooperative owned by 6,000 growers. Those spoiled crops could translate to major losses for Sunkist.

"Rough estimates are that the damage to the California-Arizona citrus industry could total $750 million," she said. "Sunkist is about 55 percent of that industry."

Some of the lowest temperatures in the region hit the Antelope Valley, with Palmdale setting a record low of just 10 degrees on Jan. 14.

The cold, however, should have limited impact on Antelope Valley's agricultural business, which is rooted in hardy vegetables, Blank said.

"We don't really grow anything sensitive to cold here in the Antelope Valley," she said. "We grow onions, potatoes and carrots, which we haven't even started planting."

The area is also home to a number of peach and cherry growers, which thrive in cooler temperatures, she said. Alfalfa, one of the valley's largest products, is also not expected to be affected by the freeze.

Further west, Craig Underwood grows fruit and vegetables at plots in Moorpark and Camarillo. Unlike farmers in the Antelope Valley, though, the frigid temperatures have taken a toll, he said.

"We certainly see damage because we had temperatures that dropped into the low 20s," said Underwood, who sells his produce at roadside stands and at his Underwood Family Farms in Moorpark.

"We lost all of our blueberries." The damage is estimated at more than $400,000, although it could have been much worse if the low temperatures stayed in place for more than a few days, Underwood said.

"If was for a longer duration," he said, "we would have lost everything."

BY CHRIS COATES 

Staff Reporter