Smoke and ash threaten to turn 2020 from bad to worse for ag industry in Monterey County.

The wildfires in the mountains to the west of the Salinas Valley are depositing ash on every outdoor surface, including on the fruits and vegetables that are growing in the region’s fertile fields. 

The result could be agricultural produce that’s too dirty to sell, but the level of damage to an industry already suffering from the pandemic-induced economic downtown will only be clear once the fires clear and the work of tallying up reports from growers begins, says Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner Henry Gonzales.

“One of the responsibilities of the agricultural commissioner is to tally losses anytime there’s a disaster that strikes agriculture,” Gonzales says. “We have to wait of course for the disaster to be done and for the growers to assess their losses.”

Two surveys of growers will be conducted over the next few months. One will start as soon a the fires end, or at least move far enough away. The next will take place at the end of the year and will provide a sense of how the compounded problems have affected the season. 

“The more succulent fruits and vegetables might have some of the ash on them, and it's problematic for sales,” Gonzales says.

Some leafy greens may suffer too, but others will be salvageable. With iceberg lettuce, for example, the outer leaves are peeled before shipment and so that can be sold ash-free even from an affected field. 

The challenge is even harder for wine grapes, whose chemistry is carefully controlled to extract certain flavors. Too much smoke could taint the grape and make an entire harvest worthless. 

In Saturday, Aug. 21, new evacuation orders issued at 5:35pm included many acres of Santa Lucia Highlands vineyards and wineries. 

Ultimately, Gonzales’ office will submit a report on losses to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which will allow local growers to apply for a number of relief programs. “But those resources are very limited,” Gonzales adds. 

The financial pressure on the growers has ramifications for farmworkers who have been toiling in the fields through the pandemic, heatwave and fires. The air quality in the northern and southern ends of the Salinas Valley has been declared “unhealthy” and "very unhealthy" by the Monterey Bay Air Resources District in recent days as conditions change. MBARD recommends that people stay home and keep with windows shut. 

For ag workers who do not have that option, the recommendation is that they wear respirators while in the fields. At 10,000 N95 respirators, the county’s stockpile at the start of the week was not enough to meet the demand for the thousands working in the fields every day. But by Aug. 20, 200,000 more respirators arrived from the California Office of Emergency Services.