Early blooms followed by unrelenting late freezes for Almond and Citrus farmers this season have threatened the industries throughout California, particularly in the northern regions. Almonds seem to be in the toughest spot, whereas citrus may have weathered the storm.
Usually frost can be mitigated by the trees, however, the early bloom that Almond crops experienced due to the warmer weather conditions earlier this year put them in harm’s way as frosting temperature swooped in a bit unexpectedly.
The frost damaged an unknown number of trees in bloom, as well as prevented the continuing of the pollination process, as bees require better temperature in order to pollinate near 55 degrees or above. Regardless of the overnight frost, we are not seeing temperatures like that just yet, and this is of particular concern because the pollination time is fairly limited.
Temperatures in the mid 20s or below are particularly damaging and concerning, and the industry can swing on as little as half a degree in variance. February brought in more than a few days of below freezing temperature that were concerning.
The weather this year has been uncharacteristic of what we have seen last year, with winter coming in late, as well as rains and snows not being as present as we saw previously. Yet, it seems the worst of the freeze may be over, with the weather expected to return to normal heading into March, if not being a bit dry. Another issue altogether will be considering the potential drought affects in the coming summer months.
The complete extent of the damage setting in right now may not be fully understood for another month, or possibly completely financially not until around mid August at the start of harvest. There are already wild estimates of damage on some farms on the microscopic level being anywhere from 10% to 50% or more of their crop, yet no firm numbers yet.
In contrast, the citrus industry in California seems to be doing quite well, with the President of California Citrus Mutual stating, ““Given the timing of this freeze event and the good size and sugar content of the crop at this point in the season, growers do not anticipate any damage.”
However, the citrus farmers were taking no chances, as they scurried to set up wind machines and irrigation measure to protect the orchards. There still is the possibility of damage to citrus, an industry well known to be the most susceptible to harm during the frost season. Yet, the citrus industry as a whole believes any harm can be offset later in the season as those trees currently in bloom that may have been damaged should be able to rebound later in the spring.
