News
ENLARGE
Wet, cold weather and a late spring freeze have pummeled pockets of crops in western Nevada County, leaving some growers devastated — and others feeling lucky.
Early vegetables, wine grapes and some fruit have been damaged or ruined by frost, sleet, rain and hail during late April and May, according to county farmers.
Much of the damage depended on the area's variable topography; low areas that capture cool air were hit the hardest.
“It's pretty bad,” said Nevada County Agricultural Commissioner Jeff Pylman.
Most vineyards will see some type of damage, with some looking at a 50 percent loss, Pylman said.
The total cost of the county's damage is still being assessed, he added.
In 2008, Nevada County crops including timber were valued at nearly $14.9 million, according to Pylman's records; that was down $1.4 million from 2007, due primarily to less timber.
This year, vegetable growers can recover by replanting in a growing season that has been lengthened by the late storms, they said.
Wine grape farmers saw a variety of impacts, and some said they won't know the extent of damage until the sun brings out shoots and grape clusters in coming weeks.
Others were ready for the late spring storm pattern, which comes about every five years to the Sierra foothills, according to forecaster John Powell of the National Weather Service in Sacramento.
This year's impact was worse than usual because of hail; two freezes came much later than normal in late April and again last Friday night and Saturday morning.
“The damage was different because of topography,” said Vineyard Manager Matt Wentz at the Lucchesi Vineyard and Winery off Rattlesnake Road south of Grass Valley. One of his vineyards is on a sunny slope and was protected, but at another, “we turned on our frost control sprinklers, and that saved us.”
A loss in crops will likely decrease the amount of wine from the county's 2010 vintage, Wentz said. “We don't have the economics here where you can make up losses with higher wine prices.”
“Our vineyard does not look very good, but it's hard to tell the loss,” said Rob Chrisman at Avanguardia Wines, 5 miles west of Nevada City in the Bitney Springs area.
“The season is so late, we didn't have much growth yet,” Chrisman said. “In another two weeks, we'll see which shoots will emerge and whether they have fruit clusters. We could still have a pretty good crop.”
Vegetables
“The vegetable growers took it on the nose in the last week,” said BakBraken Acres farmer John Drew of Chicago Park. “I lost 400 tomato plants, 200 squash and 100 cucumbers.”
“Everything from the local folks will be kind of late this year,” Drew added.
That means local produce probably won't be bountiful at farmers markets until later in the season, he said.
“Our first plants got pummeled by hail,” said Andrew Meyers of Four Frog Farm in Penn Valley. “We lost radishes, turnips and lettuce.”
At Riverhill Farm a few miles northwest of Nevada City, Alan Haight covered his crops before the freezes and didn't suffer much damage.
“We also haven't stuck our necks out too far yet by planting crops that are not frost-tolerant, like tomatoes,” Haight said. “Quite a few people lost tomatoes.”
“I lost 5,000 plants, but it's early,” said George Loftus of SunSmile Farms just west of Grass Valley. “We got hail damage on our cherries, but I'm OK.”
Loftus will replant to recoup his losses later in the season.
“We're prepared for this. We live in the mountains,” he said. ”With all the rain, farms are behind schedule, but that could be a blessing in disguise,” if yields increase with a longer season.
“It's an economic loss of about $7,000 this week, but I have the plants to back us up,” Loftus said.
SunSmile Farms is spread over 700 feet of elevation; some sites froze, while others were hardly touched, Loftus said. When the last devastating freeze came in 2008, “I lost $80,000 in two hours,” he said.
Fruit
At Bierwagen's Donner Trail Fruit farm in Chicago Park, Chris Bierwagen lost everything in 2008.
When the frost came this year, “It didn't hurt my fruit, but we were right on the edge at 32 degrees,” Bierwagen said. “If it had been a degree or two less, it would have been bad.”
Things are pretty bad at Winter Creek Antique Apples in the Bitney Springs area, where husband-and-wife team Rick and Linda Aeschliman, grow heirloom variety applies on 150 trees.
“We're only going to have about 20 percent of our crop this year,” Rick Aeschliman said. “Mostly, it's been the hail knocking blossoms off; plus, it's so cold, the bees haven't pollinated adequately, so many of them just fell off.
“If I were a full-time farmer, I'd probably be filing for unemployment,” Aeschliman said.
At the county agricultural office, Pylman is surveying the county's growers to see whether they are eligible for federal financial aid.
If the county has lost 30 percent of its crops or more, Pylman said he will seek a disaster area designation from the California Emergency Management Services agency. With that in hand, the county can approach the U.S. Department of Agriculture to get financial help for individual farms, he added.
To contact Senior Staff Writer Dave Moller, e-mail dmoller@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4237.
Early vegetables, wine grapes and some fruit have been damaged or ruined by frost, sleet, rain and hail during late April and May, according to county farmers.
Much of the damage depended on the area's variable topography; low areas that capture cool air were hit the hardest.
“It's pretty bad,” said Nevada County Agricultural Commissioner Jeff Pylman.
Most vineyards will see some type of damage, with some looking at a 50 percent loss, Pylman said.
The total cost of the county's damage is still being assessed, he added.
In 2008, Nevada County crops including timber were valued at nearly $14.9 million, according to Pylman's records; that was down $1.4 million from 2007, due primarily to less timber.
This year, vegetable growers can recover by replanting in a growing season that has been lengthened by the late storms, they said.
Wine grape farmers saw a variety of impacts, and some said they won't know the extent of damage until the sun brings out shoots and grape clusters in coming weeks.
Others were ready for the late spring storm pattern, which comes about every five years to the Sierra foothills, according to forecaster John Powell of the National Weather Service in Sacramento.
This year's impact was worse than usual because of hail; two freezes came much later than normal in late April and again last Friday night and Saturday morning.
“The damage was different because of topography,” said Vineyard Manager Matt Wentz at the Lucchesi Vineyard and Winery off Rattlesnake Road south of Grass Valley. One of his vineyards is on a sunny slope and was protected, but at another, “we turned on our frost control sprinklers, and that saved us.”
A loss in crops will likely decrease the amount of wine from the county's 2010 vintage, Wentz said. “We don't have the economics here where you can make up losses with higher wine prices.”
“Our vineyard does not look very good, but it's hard to tell the loss,” said Rob Chrisman at Avanguardia Wines, 5 miles west of Nevada City in the Bitney Springs area.
“The season is so late, we didn't have much growth yet,” Chrisman said. “In another two weeks, we'll see which shoots will emerge and whether they have fruit clusters. We could still have a pretty good crop.”
Vegetables
“The vegetable growers took it on the nose in the last week,” said BakBraken Acres farmer John Drew of Chicago Park. “I lost 400 tomato plants, 200 squash and 100 cucumbers.”
“Everything from the local folks will be kind of late this year,” Drew added.
That means local produce probably won't be bountiful at farmers markets until later in the season, he said.
“Our first plants got pummeled by hail,” said Andrew Meyers of Four Frog Farm in Penn Valley. “We lost radishes, turnips and lettuce.”
At Riverhill Farm a few miles northwest of Nevada City, Alan Haight covered his crops before the freezes and didn't suffer much damage.
“We also haven't stuck our necks out too far yet by planting crops that are not frost-tolerant, like tomatoes,” Haight said. “Quite a few people lost tomatoes.”
“I lost 5,000 plants, but it's early,” said George Loftus of SunSmile Farms just west of Grass Valley. “We got hail damage on our cherries, but I'm OK.”
Loftus will replant to recoup his losses later in the season.
“We're prepared for this. We live in the mountains,” he said. ”With all the rain, farms are behind schedule, but that could be a blessing in disguise,” if yields increase with a longer season.
“It's an economic loss of about $7,000 this week, but I have the plants to back us up,” Loftus said.
SunSmile Farms is spread over 700 feet of elevation; some sites froze, while others were hardly touched, Loftus said. When the last devastating freeze came in 2008, “I lost $80,000 in two hours,” he said.
Fruit
At Bierwagen's Donner Trail Fruit farm in Chicago Park, Chris Bierwagen lost everything in 2008.
When the frost came this year, “It didn't hurt my fruit, but we were right on the edge at 32 degrees,” Bierwagen said. “If it had been a degree or two less, it would have been bad.”
Things are pretty bad at Winter Creek Antique Apples in the Bitney Springs area, where husband-and-wife team Rick and Linda Aeschliman, grow heirloom variety applies on 150 trees.
“We're only going to have about 20 percent of our crop this year,” Rick Aeschliman said. “Mostly, it's been the hail knocking blossoms off; plus, it's so cold, the bees haven't pollinated adequately, so many of them just fell off.
“If I were a full-time farmer, I'd probably be filing for unemployment,” Aeschliman said.
At the county agricultural office, Pylman is surveying the county's growers to see whether they are eligible for federal financial aid.
If the county has lost 30 percent of its crops or more, Pylman said he will seek a disaster area designation from the California Emergency Management Services agency. With that in hand, the county can approach the U.S. Department of Agriculture to get financial help for individual farms, he added.
To contact Senior Staff Writer Dave Moller, e-mail dmoller@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4237.
