Tulare County is unlikely to repeat as the top agricultural production county in the US for the 2023 year. In 2022 Tulare County edged out rivals Fresno and Kern counties for the top spot and bragging rights.
Milk Prices per cwt
So far this year, figures have been released for Fresno County but not for Tulare or Kern.
Tulare County generated $8.6 billion in 2022 compared to Fresno County at just over $8 billion. The primary reason Tulare County beat out both Fresno and Kern counties in 2022 was the record high price of milk that year. Kern reported a total crop value of $7.7 billion in 2022.
In 2022 dairy operators received a record $26.63 per hundredweight for their milk. But in 2023 the price dropped to just over $20.
Production of milk in Tulare County has been flat for several years at over 101 million hundredweight, still the nation’s top milk producer.
For 2023, Tulare’s all crop total is likely to hover around $8 million billion – almost $700,000 less than the year before given that we know the lower milk valuation.
Just about one-third of Tulare’s total agricultural value is generated from its dairies
Fresno takes victory lap
Fresno County recently reported all crops came in at $8.58 billion in 2023.In their report Fresno County has already declared that “ This is our highest value yet and keeps Fresno County as a top agricultural producing county in California and the nation!”
Looking at the Fresno County crop report for 2023, this county has about a quarter of the milk volume of Tulare County so it is far less dependent on this crop. In 2023, Fresno doubled its value in processing tomatoes, tripled valuation in cherries, and increased the value of pistachios by about 20%.On the downside,its valuation in citrus fell.
Milk prices nationwide gyrated from $10 a hundredweight to $25 in the past 25 years with a high in 2022 affected by the impacts of Covid 19.Farmers will tell you that in 2022 their feed costs were also the highest level ever.
second graphic: Value of milk in the US by year from Trading Economics.
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