Agriculture Today - February 2007
The 2007 freeze: Estimated $101 million in crop losses in Fresno County
Citrus and vegetable crops most affected
More than 18 consecutive days of sub-freezing temperatures throughout the San Joaquin Valley last month wreaked havoc with citrus and vegetable crops in particular.
Although crop damage is still being assessed – and will be for some time to come – the preliminary numbers are alarming. An estimated $101 million in preliminary losses was reported in Fresno County alone.
The impacts from the freezing temperatures are already being felt by growers and farm employees alike, particularly citrus pickers and packing house employees, growers who trade at farmers’ markets, and citrus and specialty crop farmers.
Perhaps hardest hit was the Valley and state citrus crops. California Citrus Mutual reported gross losses in excess of $800 million to all citrus varieties statewide. It is anticipated the numbers for navel oranges, lemons and mandarin variety fruit will be adjusted upward in early spring after accounting of all product. The industry normally exports 15-20 percent of its orange volume. That will not occur this year, reports CCM. Since the frost season began in November, citrus growers statewide have spent more than $100 million to protect citrus crops.
On Jan. 23, the Fresno County Board of Supervisors proclaimed and ratified a Local Emergency and officially requested the Governor to proclaim a State of Emergency and request a Presidential Declaration for state and federal assistance. The preliminary loss estimates were reported in citrus crops, transplant tomatoes, broccoli, lettuce, sugar beets, lemon grass, sugar cane, Asian vegetables and nursery stock.
On the state level, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner declared an emergency, which allows insurance adjusters from other states to help assess California's crop damage. Poizner reported there might be more than a billion dollars in crop damage. Out-of-state adjusters will almost double the numbers in the field to get claims settled as soon as possible. The commissioner estimates that 90 percent of the affected crops have some insurance.
In addition, the U.S. Small Business Administration announced that low-interest loans will be available to small businesses that suffer financial losses due to the freeze. Eligible businesses are those that are dependent on freeze-impacted crops, located in affected rural communities, or those who do business directly with growers. Outreach centers are located in Mendota, Kingsburg, Fresno and Orange Cove. Deadline to apply is Oct. 24. Details: (800) 659-2955.
Legislation introduced to help
In the week following the freeze, several bills were introduced, focusing on freeze relief. Assembly Member Nicole Parra introduced Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 12, co-sponsored by Senator Abel Maldonado, is intended to encourage, but not require, the CA Public Utilities Commission to authorize additional relief in the form of utility payment deferrals (not forgiveness) for any citrus grower who had crop damage in Jan. 2007. The bill applies to the following seven counties: Fresno, Kern, Kings Madera, Monterey, Tulare, and Ventura. Senator Dean Florez introduced an almost identical bill, Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 6, which applies to all agricultural growers, instead of just citrus growers, and also applies to Merced, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.
Sen. Florez also introduced Senate Bills 114 and 115. SB 114 would provide for state allocations to property tax revenue reductions, resulting from a reassessment for damages incurred within the counties that were declared by the Governor to be in a state of emergency. SB 115 would appropriate $1,867,000 from the Unemployment Fund from moneys requisitioned from the federal Unemployment Trust Fund for use for administrative costs of the Employment Development Department employment service program attributable to the freezing conditions that occurred during January.
Senator Maldonado introduced Senate Bill 116, which would provide that an individual who has been laid off from work or who is unable to begin work as a direct result of the recent freeze shall be considered “unemployed” for the purpose of eligibility for unemployment benefits if, for any week of less than full-time work, the wages payable to the individual for that week, when reduced by $200, do not equal or exceed the individual’s unemployment weekly benefit amount.
Last week, Senator Hollingsworth introduced SB 148. The California Constitution exempts from property taxation fruit and nut trees until four years after the season in which they were planted in orchard form and grapevines until three years after the season in which they were planted in vineyard form. Existing statutory law implementing these exemptions specifies that any fruit-bearing or nut-bearing tree that was severely damaged during the exemption period by the 1998 Freeze so as to require pruning to the trunk or bud union to establish a new shoot as a replacement for the damaged tree or grapevine, is to be considered a new planting in orchard form. This bill would modify this statutory provision to also apply to any fruit-bearing or nut-bearing tree that was similarly damaged during the 2007 Freeze.
Senator Hollingsworth also introduced SB 149 relating to freeze relief. This bill would exempt from the sales and use tax natural gas and gasoline sold to a person using the products for agricultural purposes. The Sales and Use Tax Law imposes a tax on the gross receipts from the sale of, or the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of, tangible personal property, and provides various exemptions from that tax. The bill would not reimburse local agencies for sales and use tax revenues lost by them pursuant to this bill. This bill provides for a tax levy.
Governor rallies for help
Governor Schwarzenegger came to the Valley twice during the two week freeze event to rally his support for farmers, farm employees and rural communities most affected. During the freeze, he visited with FCFB member Keith Nilmeier to see first-hand what was happening to the orange crop and to learn what he could do to help farmers. On his second visit, Governor Schwarzenegger met in Dinuba with Assemblywoman Nicole Parra, Senator Abel Maldonado, Director of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services Henry Renteria, and Secretary of the Labor and Workforce Agency Victoria Bradshaw, along with FCFB President Russel Efird and the presidents from neighboring county Farm Bureaus, for a briefing on what programs had been put in place and what more needed to be done to help the people and communities in need.