RAINFALL SPROUTS OPTIMISM.Byline: Cecilia Chan Staff Writer The 3 to 4 inches of rain that soaked Ventura County this week may have played havoc with motorists, but it was a godsend god·send n. Something wanted or needed that comes or happens unexpectedly. [Alteration of Middle English goddes sand, God's message : goddes, genitive of God, God to farmers. While a few strawberry growers reported losing some of their unpicked un·pick tr.v. un·picked, un·pick·ing, un·picks To undo (sewing) by removing stitches: unpick a seam. fruit because of the downpour, the rain was a boon to most of the county, where cattle ranchers were in the second year of a drought and firefighters were on heightened alert for brush fires. ``There was some limited amount of damage to some of the (strawberries) ready to be harvested,'' said Alan Laird,Ventura County deputy agriculture commissioner. ``Not to downplay some of the losses as far as to strawberries but it's been real beneficial to tree fruit growers. ``Avocado, lemon and orange growers, for the most part, welcomed the storm that came in here,'' he said. ``For the most part, we fared pretty well.'' Strawberries were the No. 1 cash crop in the county in 1999 - edging out lemons for the first time - bringing in $221 million to the county's $1.05 billion agriculture industry. Ventura County is second in the state for strawberry production, Laird said. Although John Conroy Sir John Conroy, 1st Baronet (21 October 1786 – 2 March 1854) was an Irish soldier and adventurer who served as Comptroller of the Household of Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, the Duchess of Kent, the mother of the future Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and widow of lost some fruit from his 150 acres of strawberries in Oxnard, he said it was so insignificant being so early in the season he didn't even tabulate (1) To arrange data into a columnar format. (2) To sum and print totals. the loss. ``We are in good shape. This does nothing but wonders for plants,'' he said. ``Six weeks ago they were talking about a drought so we need the rain. And what better time than the winter.'' He said last year was a disaster when 2.5 inches of rain fell in April during the peak season. ``The benefit we will get from this rain later in the season will come back in aces for us,'' he said, noting the rain will replenish the deep-water wells used to irrigate ir·ri·gate v. To wash out a cavity or wound with a fluid. the strawberries. Rex Laird, executive director of the Ventura County Farm Bureau, said that growers will be able to turn off their well, cutting down on energy use. In addition, the heavy rain will flush out the salt buildup in the soil that occurs from irrigation irrigation, in agriculture, artificial watering of the land. Although used chiefly in regions with annual rainfall of less than 20 in. (51 cm), it is also used in wetter areas to grow certain crops, e.g., rice. . Although cattle ranchers could have used the rain last fall to grow feed for their nursing cows, it's still a welcome sight, said Rob Frost, president of the California Cattlemen's Association and a Santa Paula Santa Paula (săn`tə pôl`ə), city (1990 pop. 25,062), Ventura co., S Calif., on the Santa Clara River in a fertile valley that yields citrus fruits, avocados, vegetables, flowers, nursery products, and walnuts; laid out 1875, inc. rancher. ``We're really happy with it,'' Frost said. ``We are going to have grass probably in March.'' Although the four-month calving calving act of parturition in a bovine female, and presumably in any animal that bears a calf as its newborn. See also block calving, ease of calving. calving-to-conception interval season is pretty much over, ``we've got to have grass to carry them them through the year,'' he said. |
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