Fresno County ag value surpasses $8 billion for first time. Which crops topped the list?
Fresno County farmers and ranchers experienced a record year of crop and livestock production in 2021, churning out a gross value of almost $8.1 billion.
Melissa Cregan, the county’s agricultural commissioner, presented her department’s annual crop report Tuesday to the Fresno County Board of Supervisors. Last year was the first time that the total value of agricultural commodities grown and raised in Fresno County exceeded $8 billion, she said.
The record came despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, logistics, drought and a water shortage that has forced a growing number of acres to be fallowed, particularly in western Fresno County.
The value of $8,057,567,000 in crops and livestock represents an increase of more than $117 million, or almost 1.5%, compared to 2020, Cregan told the board. She added that while the figures indicate the raw value of the commodities produced in 2021, they do not reflect production costs nor do they represent profit or losses realized by the county’s farmers and ranchers.
Almonds and grapes were the only crops in Fresno County to come in at more than $1 billion in value in 2021. Almonds maintained their spot at the top of the county’s commodities for the ninth consecutive year. About 364,000 tons of the nuts were produced from about 286,350 acres across Fresno County, and farmers sold another 598,000 tons of almond hulls for processing into livestock feed and other products. Together, the nuts and hulls totaled more than $1.4 billion in value.
The county’s grape crop – a combination of just under 173,000 acres of table, wine and raisin grapes – came in second, adding up to almost $1.3 billion.
Factors impacting crop values
Rounding out the top 10 commodities are:
Pistachios – About $722.1 million from just under 132,500 acres.
Poultry – About $537.8 million including turkeys, chickens, ducks, geese, game birds and eggs.
Milk – About $484.5 million from production of almost 25.9 million hundredweight, or more than 1.2 million tons of milk, by dairies across the county.
Tomatoes – About $419.9 million, including almost $262 million grown on fewer than 63,000 acres for processing into sauce or ketchup.
Cattle and calves – About $417.6 million in stock for both dairy and beef production including breeding stock, feeder calves and for slaughter.
Garlic – More than $286.1 million in production on about 22,610 acres for both fresh use and processing.
Oranges – About $239 million in production on 30,334 acres for both fresh consumption and processing.
Peaches – About $224.3 million from just over 18,000 acres of production for both fresh consumption and for processing.
“I don’t know that there are necessarily surprises,” Cregan told The Fresno Bee after the presentation to the county supervisors. “We were well aware that with our challenges with water we were going to see significant decreases in some of our field and vegetable crops. That’s just a given.”
The garlic crop, for example, came in with a value that fell short of the 2020 mark by more than $110 million; even though 2021 production was about 9,000 tons higher than the previous year, the price per ton was about $700 lower than in 2020.
Other Top 10 crops that saw year-to-year declines in value were oranges, down by almost $67 million from 2020; and peaches, which fell by more than $23 million.
“Obviously we see in the stores the prices of food going up, but that doesn’t necessarily translate back down to the farmers,” Cregan added. “The 1.47% growth is actually lower than we had last year. … You hold your breath a little bit and hope that we’re not going to be losing value.”
Total commodity values are affected by three factors: the number of acres planted or harvested for a particular crop, the yield or amount of product harvested, and the prices commanded by a commodity, she said. “From commodity to commodity, some go up, some go down.
“We saw a large decrease in planted acreage for a lot of stuff that’s grown on the west side, the vegetables and field crops that need water, the things that aren’t permanent,” Cregan told The Bee. “Just driving around out there and seeing the amount of fallowed acreage, it’s a little surprising that we’re not seeing a decrease in (total) value.”
Manuel Cunha, president of the Nisei Farmers League, said restrictions on water allocations played a significant role in reducing the acreage of some thirsty crops. “Farmers being told that they’re being cut back to zero (water) made a change in the vegetable production, there’s no doubt about it,” Cuhna said. “You’ve got this many acres, but you only have water for this many acres. What trees or vines do you let go?”
“I still think the number is good for what we have gone through,” he added. “But by reducing those acres, we also reduce labor” and the amount of workers employed to work the fields and harvest crops.
What county ranked first?
Fresno County has often been either at the top or second among California’s 58 counties for agricultural production. But despite the record set in 2021, reports issued this year show that the county fell to third place.
Fresno County was outpaced by top-ranked Kern County, which reported more than $8.3 billion in commodity value, and Tulare County, where almost $8.1 billion worth of in crops and livestock were produced by farmers and ranchers.
Still, Fresno County Farm Bureau CEO Ryan Jacobsen was pleased with the local report.
“The overall number is slightly higher than I was anticipating,” Jacobsen told The Bee. “But it’s so hard to predict with so many different crops, the volatility, the ups and downs that you have. But overall, no big surprises.”
The 2021 report “once again showcases how this region is the food capital of the world,” Jacobsen told the Board of Supervisors. “(The year) will be remembered for the uncertainty it presented to those in agriculture. Markets were still in flux and trying to recover due to COVID. Safety for our critical workforce remained a priority.”
“Container and port issues jeopardized our ability to get crops to international markets,” he added. “And a second year of drought was one of the driest on record for some of our local watersheds.”
This story was originally published October 25, 2022 at 3:25 PM.
