Fire and wind damage to California avocados not as severe as some expected
Fire and wind damage to California avocados not as severe as some expected
Widespread wildfires and even more widespread fierce Santa Ana winds in Southern California early in the week of Oct. 21 caused damage, and in some cases severe damage, to thousands of acres of avocados and other crops. But the scope of the damage to the state's total avocado crop is now believed to be lower than some in the industry initially feared and much lower than some early news reports indicated.
"Clearly, individual growers have suffered some devastating losses, and we have probably got around 4,000 acres that have suffered anything from superficial scorching of the foliage all the way to complete grove destruction," said Guy Witney, director of industry affairs for the California Avocado Commission.
Most of the fire damage was in San Diego County. In addition, there were varying degrees of damage in many avocado orchards unaffected by the fires, in all growing districts, as high winds blew fruit off the trees.
While it will be weeks before the actual extent of the damage is fully assessed, Mr. Whitney said it now appears that the total crop loss from wind and fire combined will be around 40 million pounds.
Before the fires, California was expected to produce about 365 million pounds of avocados during the 2007-08 crop year.
"I would say overall 10 percent of the crop & was either lost as a result of direct burn damage to orchards & or was stripped from trees" by the winds, Mr. Witney said. The damage occurred "all the way from San Luis Obispo County to San Diego County."
That 10 percent figure is considerably below some early fears that as much as 30 percent of the crop might have been lost, and there are still some in the industry who feel that the overall crop loss, statewide, will prove to be considerably more than 10 percent.
But as growers and farm managers were able to get back into the groves following the fires, many of them were relieved to discover that the damage was less extensive than anticipated.
Often the groves were damaged only along the edges and were found, in fact, to have acted as a firebreak.
"When [the fires] approached orchards at a rapid rate with a lot of fuel behind them, they certainly could do some severe damage to orchards," Mr. Witney said. "But for the most part, the orchards stopped the fire in its tracks. & Under the circumstances, the damage is less than a lot of experts were predicting in the early stages of the fires."
Over the next several weeks, the commission will undertake a grower survey to assess the damage more accurately and formulate a new crop estimate for the coming season. "I am going to recommend to our board that we do an aerial survey as well," Mr. Witney said.
The loss of 40 million or so pounds of California avocados should not significantly affect the total amount of fruit in the U.S. market, he noted. With fruit "coming into the market from Mexico, from Chile" and from other off- shore sources, in addition to the California crop, there will be a continuous 12-month supply of avocados in the market, he said. In all, about a billion pounds of avocados are expected to be on the market over the course of the year.
"Clearly, individual growers have suffered some devastating losses, and we have probably got around 4,000 acres that have suffered anything from superficial scorching of the foliage all the way to complete grove destruction," said Guy Witney, director of industry affairs for the California Avocado Commission.
Most of the fire damage was in San Diego County. In addition, there were varying degrees of damage in many avocado orchards unaffected by the fires, in all growing districts, as high winds blew fruit off the trees.
While it will be weeks before the actual extent of the damage is fully assessed, Mr. Whitney said it now appears that the total crop loss from wind and fire combined will be around 40 million pounds.
Before the fires, California was expected to produce about 365 million pounds of avocados during the 2007-08 crop year.
"I would say overall 10 percent of the crop & was either lost as a result of direct burn damage to orchards & or was stripped from trees" by the winds, Mr. Witney said. The damage occurred "all the way from San Luis Obispo County to San Diego County."
That 10 percent figure is considerably below some early fears that as much as 30 percent of the crop might have been lost, and there are still some in the industry who feel that the overall crop loss, statewide, will prove to be considerably more than 10 percent.
But as growers and farm managers were able to get back into the groves following the fires, many of them were relieved to discover that the damage was less extensive than anticipated.
Often the groves were damaged only along the edges and were found, in fact, to have acted as a firebreak.
"When [the fires] approached orchards at a rapid rate with a lot of fuel behind them, they certainly could do some severe damage to orchards," Mr. Witney said. "But for the most part, the orchards stopped the fire in its tracks. & Under the circumstances, the damage is less than a lot of experts were predicting in the early stages of the fires."
Over the next several weeks, the commission will undertake a grower survey to assess the damage more accurately and formulate a new crop estimate for the coming season. "I am going to recommend to our board that we do an aerial survey as well," Mr. Witney said.
The loss of 40 million or so pounds of California avocados should not significantly affect the total amount of fruit in the U.S. market, he noted. With fruit "coming into the market from Mexico, from Chile" and from other off- shore sources, in addition to the California crop, there will be a continuous 12-month supply of avocados in the market, he said. In all, about a billion pounds of avocados are expected to be on the market over the course of the year.
