California Wildfires Devastating to Farms

Last month’s California wildfires took no prisoners. Nothing was safe in the path of the many infernos that blazed uncontrolled for days – modest homes, multi-million dollar homes, businesses, and even farms. The total losses continue to be tallied, but so far the cost is well above $1 billion.

Although a dollar figure has yet to be given to the loss of farm equipment, outbuildings, irrigation systems, and supplies, crop losses have been set at $42.6 million, according to the San Diego County agricultural commissioner’s office.

Eric Larson, San Diego County Farm Bureau executive director, said the crop-loss figure only portrays a part of the heartache that San Diego County farmers face.

"I have been in the fields and I've walked on these farms that have been hurt, and it goes beyond the dollars," he said. "You're talking about real people and real stories. Even though $42 million may not sound like a lot of money in the context of the farm economy, the people who suffered losses, their losses were immense. I've seen farms where they've lost 100 percent of everything they had, so for them it's really catastrophic damage."

San Diego County is one of the top dozen agricultural counties in the nation, and acreage affected is currently just under 8,700 acres. While most of the acreage scorched was rangeland in the eastern part of the county, about 2,500 acres of land and various crops from avocados to nursery crops, and greenhouses were also affected.

A rush to repair irrigation systems has been the first priority for many San Diego County farmers working to recover from wildfires. The fires that scorched farms, ranches, and nurseries also caused extensive damage to irrigation pipe and equipment, even on farms where crops were spared.

Larson says the need to repair irrigation systems is "pretty universal."

"The very first thing that everyone's gone to work on is getting their irrigation systems back in order. Even if they've got trees or plants damaged by the fire, there's going to be no chance of recovery if they don't get water back onto those plants," he said.

Many aboveground poly and PVC irrigation systems were damaged beyond repair, he said, as heat from the fires melted pipes.

"So there's been a massive effort to get in and replumb and refit the irrigation systems on these farms," Larson said.

There's also been a rush to rent or borrow equipment. At nurseries, for example, many trucks and tractors were destroyed by fire.

"That creates an additional burden," Larson said. "You want to go in and do some repairs, but your rolling stock that you'd turn to first is gone."

Reprinted with permission from the California Farm Bureau Federation.

Posted: Friday, November 16, 2007 12:00:00 AM. Modified: Friday, November 16, 2007 9:44:38 AM.

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