Valley Small Farmers Trying to Salvage Crops

1/20/07 (KFSN) -- Other farmers are hurting as well, and some vegetables are now in short supply at local farmer's markets. It's estimated Hmong farmers in the Valley lost up to 90% of their crops including bok choi, sugar cane, and cabbage.

Many are now sorting through their crops. They are trying to salvage what they can still sell, and what they salvage may cost you more.

This dichon is one of 30 to 40 specialty vegetables Neng Fong grows on his Fresno County farm. Freeze damage has caused the outer layer of skin to peel off the dichon. But the rest of the radish-like vegetable can be saved.

However, some of his other crops are a total loss, like sugar cane.

"Instead of tasting like sugar cane, it tastes something that's fermented and gone bad," said small farms advisor Richard Molinar.

"So I lost 75% to 80%, something like that," Fong said.

"It's just affected all of the vegetables. Even though they're cool season vegetables and they're tolerant to some frost, when you've got 18, 19, degrees, it's just too cold," Molinar said.

Fong will now have to sort through his crops to find what can still be salvaged.

Like many other specialty farmers, Fong sells his produce exclusively at roadside stands and local farmers markets.

The Thao family says they lost 70% of their crops. On Saturday, they were selling items that were grown inside hot houses.

But the plastic sheeting wasn't enough to save their profits for the year.

"All the new crops that are waiting for the spring most of them are dead right now because of the frost," said specialty grower Mai Thao.

So far, customers at a Fresno farmers market say they haven't noticed any change in produce prices and everything looks good, too.

"We haven't noticed a deterioration in quality at all in the winter produce," said produce customer Emily De La Cruz.

As time passes, prices may rise, if you are even able to find what you are looking for.

"They probably won't find any mustard greens. Even if they were grown in greenhouses, they were still damaged," Molinar said.

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