Monterey County agriculture: survey finds $600 million in total damages, future losses from winter storms

SALINAS – Between January and March, the Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office is estimating that torrential weather generated $600 million in damages, losses and future impacts to the local agricultural industry.

After repeatedly heavy rain again doused local farmland with floodwaters in March – some just starting to recover from storms two months prior – the Ag Commissioner’s Office conducted a survey to gauge the extent of second-round impacts.

Survey results, released on Friday, show damages, current losses estimated and projected future losses totaling $264 million from flooding in March. According to the Ag Commissioner’s Office, approximately 8,736 acres of crops were destroyed or unable to be planted due to the flooding, half of which were newly impacted from storms at the outset of the year.

Strawberries were especially affected, primarily in the Pajaro Valley, where a breached levee along the Pajaro River forced thousands to evacuate and drowned nearby ag fields in floodwater. Per the county’s survey results released this week, an estimated 1,919 acres of strawberry fields were damaged, totaling $160 million in losses.

Other losses include: $54.4 million to lettuces; $24.2 million to vegetable crops, such as broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower; $11.4 million to raspberries and blackberries; and $1.35 million to wine grapes.

March estimates are on top of storm damages already suffered in January.

Through a similar survey conducted earlier this year, the Ag Commissioner’s Office found that the local ag industry sustained $336 million in losses and damages through January’s parade of storms and flooding. The nine-figure number reflected $324.1 million worth of crop losses and $9.6 million worth of damages to farm infrastructure and facilities.

Together, storms this winter cumulatively impacted a total of 20,073 acres of Monterey County farmland, the Ag Commissioner’s office surmised.

“This has proven to be one of the most difficult winters many of our growers and communities have experienced in our area,” County of Monterey Agricultural Commissioner Juan Hidalgo said in a press release Friday. “I am hopeful that having a full picture of the extent of this winter’s damage will open new recovery opportunities and assistance to our impacted growers.”