On this page:

• Who to Contact During a Disaster
• Assessing Livestock, Range and Forestry Losses
• Crop Loss Reporting, Federal Assistance and Crop Insurance
• Viticulture
• Soil Testing

During a Disaster

If you need access to your crops during a disaster, contact Sonoma County Department of Agriculture - NOTE access will not be granted in active fire areas:

• (707) 565-2371
• CA Relay: 711
• SonomaAg@sonoma-county.org

Assessing Livestock, Range and Forestry Losses

• Forest, Trees: Steven Swain svswain@ucanr.edu or Mike Jones mjones@ucanr.edu
• Livestock, Range, Pasture: Stephanie Larson slarson@ucanr.edu
  • Seeding Rangelands After Wildfire

Crop Loss Reporting

Federal Assistance and Crop Insurance

It is imperative that you keep records of everything that pertains to the loss (e.g. photo documentation, receipts, tests, correspondence). See: Documenting Disaster Losses (pdf).
Crops rejected due to smoke taint documentation includes: rejection letter, a copy of test results showing smoke taint, and keep track of what happens to the crop. If vines, see: Should You Drop Unsold Fruit or Leave it on the Vine?

For 2020 agricultural losses due to disaster: call or email USDA Farm Service Agency's Sonoma County office to get on their Disaster list and they will contact you if/when a program is ready. See also: Grants & Loans for Disasters.

If you have crop insurance, contact your adjuster right away.

If you do not have crop insurance, review USDA’s Risk Management (crop insurance) programs that could apply to your operation. (It won’t help now). You can find an agent here (input your address and click on search).

Viticulture

Grapevines are very resilient and do not burn easily. In many cases the vineyards are acting like fire breaks and are likely playing a role in the fact that only a limited amount of wineries have been destroyed or significantly damaged in the fires surrounding them. We expect that the grapevines will recover fully if they did not actually burn, although yield may be impacted. 

• Response to wildfire impact on CA wine industry and smoke taint UCD Vit & Enology Dept, 10/2017
• Smoke and Grape – the Smoke Taint Repercussions, Viticulture Blog, Fruition Sciences, 10/2017

Soil Testing

Some technical guidance tip sheets and power points that may be helpful can be found here:

• Contaminants in Soils, Data Collection-Interpreting Test results and Minimizing Exposure by Cornell University
• Soils in Urban Agriculture: Testing, Remediation and Best Management Practices peer-reviewed article
• Testing Laboratories in Northern California