Last week's fires that spread across Southern California caused extensive damage in the area's floral industry, according to The San Diego County Department of Agriculture, Weights and Measures.

Rumors of significant damage at Kendall Farms, in Fallbrook, Calif., were confirmed in the San Diego Union-Tribune on Oct. 26, which reported that 95 percent of the company's 200-acres of crop were lost.

Dawn Nielsen, San Diego County's deputy agricultural commissioner, told the paper she estimates that 1,630 acres, or 16.5 percent of the county's 9,870 acres of flower, nursery and greenhouse crops are in the Rice Canyon and Witch Creek fire-affected areas, but estimates of damage have not been made yet.

Eric Larson, the Farm Bureau's director, says there were approximately 800 acres of floral product in the foothills of the fire, but exactly how much damage occured is still under assessment. 

"What effect this will have on the market is a tough call," Larson says. "We don't have the numbers yet."

San Diego County ranks first in the state of California in gross value of flower and foliage production, with 51 percent of the total gross value of flowers and foliages in the state, according to USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Jan Berry, executive secretary at the San Diego County Flower & Plant Association, says reports of damage are still slowly coming in, and the association is giving its members some time and space to get their bearings. 

"I think everyone is busy trying to assess the damage," Berry says. "It's really hard to say what the total effect was right now, it's going to take some time."

In the meantime, Berry says the association is giving its members as much help as possible. It's directing businesses with burned trees and irrigation lines to contact Natural Resources Conservation to get in the queue for a team to come and assess their property for damages.

The association also advises members to contact the Mission Resource Conservation District to get erosion control and irrigation advice.

The San Diego Farm Bureau also is providing updates, including assistance information, on its Web site.

--Kori Kamradt
kkamradt@safnow.org

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