Citrus Prices Expected To Rise Sharply After Freeze

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- From Valentine's Day bouquets to Super Bowl spreads, shoppers soon will be feeling the sting of higher prices from a wave of icy weather that has hit California farms.

As much as three-quarters of the state's citrus crop withered in the field during the cold snap, but nearly every winter crop, from avocados to fresh-cut flowers, has suffered severely.

The shortages' impact wasn't lost on Joseph Vasquez, who realized what it could mean for his party plans with NFL playoffs in full swing.

"Avocados are expensive enough as it is," the 32-year-old Pasadena school teacher said. "We may have to do without guacamole for a while. And we may be drinking our Coronas without limes."

Consumers can expect the price of oranges to rise sharply after a recent deep freeze ruined at least half of California's citrus crop, state agriculture officials said.

Citrus losses are estimated at $480 million, but authorities said that number could hit $1 billion.

Meanwhile, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is asking the federal government for disaster aid to help farmers affected by the recent chill, which wreaked havoc on many farms in the San Joaquin Valley and Central Coast.

Officials at General Produce in Sacramento are telling the restaurants and other businesses they supply to brace themselves for short citrus supplies and a tripling in prices.

Luna's Cafe, a juice bar on 16th Street in Sacramento, is expecting to feel the squeeze.

"I was talking to my supplier today, and he said prices could triple on some cases of oranges," owner Art Luna said.

Price hikes still won't be enough to offset the damage, as growers cope with nearly $1 billion in losses following four consecutive nights of subfreezing temperatures.

"This is not just about the crop this year. It could also have a devastating effect next year," Schwarzenegger said after touring a devastated orange grove in Fresno. "My administration will make sure that we do everything we can to help the farmers and workers get through this."

The state's citrus industry stands to take the biggest economic hit of all crops.

California is the nation's No. 1 producer of fresh citrus, growing about 86 percent of lemons and 21 percent of oranges sold in the U.S., according to the California Farm Bureau. Florida produces more citrus overall, mostly for use in orange juice, according to the USDA.

Growers said more than 70 percent of this season's oranges, lemons and tangerines were still on the trees as nighttime temperatures in California's Central Valley dipped into the low 20s and teens beginning Friday. The fruit is threatened whenever the mercury falls below 28 degrees.

The governor declared a state of emergency in 10 counties, and officials said he may expand the declaration to cover more counties. The last such freeze occurred in 1998 when a three-day cold snap destroyed 85 percent of California's citrus crop, a loss valued at $700 million, state Agriculture Secretary A.G. Kawamura said.

The state also suffered a deep freeze in 1990 -- one that completely wiped out the $1 billion crop. It took growers two years to recover.

"We want to get the ball rolling as quick as possible," Schwarzenegger said Tuesday while visiting a damaged orchard.

Counties currently named in the declaration are Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare, Kern, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura.

Inflated prices also are expected for other crops that have fallen victim to the icy California weather, state agricultural officials said.

Lee Cole, chief of Santa Paula-based Calavo Growers Inc., which sells 35 to 40 percent of the state's $380 million avocado crop, said the freeze may have claimed up to 40 percent of Calavo's crop in Ventura County, with damage along the less-frigid coast between San Luis Obispo and Escondido hovering between 25 and 35 percent.

"Prices will certainly be higher," he said.

If the damage is severe, the trees could also bear fewer avocados next year, Cole said.

Strawberries growing along the coastal regions of Southern California were mostly ruined, according to the California Strawberry Commission. The freeze also destroyed flowers that would produce the next berry crop on each plant.

Growers in the Imperial Valley also were worried about tender vegetables such as lettuce that may not have held up to nearly a week of temperatures in the mid-20s, said Brad Rippey, a USDA meteorologist.

Throughout the cold snap, growers have tried to save their crops by pumping fields with heated irrigation water and running wind machines to circulate warmer air and keep it from rising off the trees.

For cut-flower producers, the damage mostly will be felt in the form of increased heating costs, said Kathryn Miele, director of marketing for the California Cut Flower Commission, which represents several hundred growers.

Many flowers -- including the Valentine's Day rose crop -- are pampered indoors, meaning growers are forced to spend more to keep greenhouses balmy, she said.

Farmers said they did all they could to save their crops, but last weekend's chill proved too much for trees and citrus.

Grower Steve Barnard said he used wind machines and other measures to keep orchards warm. But he said he knew his crop was finished when his irrigation ditch froze over.

"You just do what you can and keep smiling and see what happens," Barnard said.