Fresno County seeks reports of heat damage to pistachio crops
Fresno County is asking pistachio growers to report crop damage from recent spring heat to support agricultural disaster assessments.
Recent periods of above-normal spring temperatures prompted the Fresno County Department of Agriculture to begin assessing potential damage to pistachio crops and request reports from affected growers.
The department asked growers whose operations experienced damage related to the recent heat events to complete a damage assessment form. Growers are asked to submit information for each Fresno County permit number and site ID, including total site acreage and the estimated percentage of damaged acreage.
Officials said information submitted by growers will remain confidential. Individual reports will be combined to estimate total commodity losses for Fresno County, with only aggregated data shared with state and federal disaster response agencies.
Completed forms should be returned by e-mail to AgDisaster@fresnocountyca.gov. Growers who cannot complete or print the electronic form may instead submit clear, legible photographs of the completed form to the same e-mail address.
The department said it does not provide direct financial assistance. Instead, the information collected supports disaster assessments and may help facilitate potential assistance through state and federal partners.
Officials also encouraged growers to continue monitoring orchards because weather-related damage may not be immediately apparent and to report additional damage as it becomes evident.
The pistachio disaster loss form can be found here.
More information on disaster assistance from the USDA can be found here.