Send in the worms

and other innovative ideas

-January 20,2024-

Dairymen are survivors. They often employ high technology to solve problems. But at times they are turning to low tech, very lowly solutions to meet the toughest challenges.

Even as dairy operators in the Central Valley are being mandated to pump less groundwater they also must cut air and water pollution and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. That includes experimenting with processes and feeds to reduce methane emissions from cow burps, as well as manage manure nutrients at the dairy to preserve the very groundwater both the dairies, and the communities surrounding them need.

By the way, they need to stay in business too.

The advocate and research group Dairy Cares notes that since regional concentrations of large dairies produce equally large volumes of manure in small geographical areas, concerns are raised about the effects on local air, land, and water resources. Various dairy manure management technologies have been suggested ranging from anaerobic lagoons to membrane filtration but are not considered economically viable due to the high energy and labor requirements for sludge management.

However the technology called Vermifiltration, using earthworms, on the other hand is an emerging low-cost manure management system, an aerobic wastewater treatment system that employs a community of microorganisms and earthworms in a filter bed media. Vermifiltration was first demonstrated on a dairy in Hilmar in 2014 and has since been used on another dairy in Washington state.

Essentially, these farms use worm beds to filter liquid manure effluent. The worms absorb the water, and the bacteria in their guts and convert the nitrogen into nitrogen gas (N2) which is a harmless gas that makes up about 78 percent of our atmosphere. Worm castings and decomposed wood chips from the beds offer potential value as fertilizer and soil amendments.

Testing the potential of worms

To test the idea at Central Valley dairies, CDFA’s Alternative Manure Management Program – using money from the EPA – has now provided funding for dairy vermifiltration projects that are under way, aiming to further demonstrate the potential of worms.Not only could these manure eating worms help reduce dairies carbon footprint, they could do potentially do it cheaper than high tech solutions like dairy digesters, future funding for which has been under fire in Sacramento recently.

The Milk Producers Council newsletter recently highlighted the simple technology.Funding will now test a significant partnership with worms. Three local dairies were awarded $3.7 million in December 2023 to pioneer the idea at their farms in Tulare, Kings and Merced Counties.

Now an additional 12 projects will be funded to carry on with similar work to manage manure. Six of those local dairies are planning to use the earthworm technology. Funding adds up to $14.5 million requiring matching funds.

Another method being explored is the use of an algae raceway system. The system has been piloted on a California dairy, where it works in conjunction with a digester to both reduce methane, remove nitrogen, and purify remaining water. Like with vermifiltration, algae raceways show great promise for improving water quality outcomes, say experts.

A report summaries the effort. “Worms, algae, and evaporative technologies are just a few of the technologies and strategies being explored. The California dairy sector and its public and private partners will continue their important work to identify and verify ways to best serve the manure management needs of individual family dairy farms and bring environmental benefits to communities. Researchers and entrepreneurs are on board in this mission to discover dairy manure’s full potential as part of a more circular and sustainable California agriculture industry. “

Boosting the value of manure

“Dairy manure is a valuable resource. However, the excess of some nutrients in manure is a critical concern that must be addressed for the safety of our communities and our environment.”

“Nitrate contamination of groundwater drinking sources is an acute issue in many agricultural areas: animal manure (including dairies) contributes an estimated 1/3 of all nitrogen loading to groundwater in parts of California’s agricultural regions, with other irrigated agriculture contributing most of the remainder. For dairies, inefficient and/or over application of manure to cropland is the main source of loading.”

Other ideas being tested.In Petaluma nitrogen-rich dairy effluent is being used to grow duckweed, a possible alternative feed source for cattle, denitrifying the wastewater in the process. Also being funded, weeping walls and advanced solids-liquid separation with flocculants or by other methods.

“The Manure Recycling and Innovative Products Task Force has succeeded in developing recommendations for strategies to capture and enhance the value of dairy manure. The value highlighted by these strategies includes building healthy soils and sequestering carbon, offsetting industrial fertilizer use, protecting water and air quality, and reducing agriculture’s carbon footprint in California. These benefits impact not just farmers, but the state, our consumers, and our environment.”

-November 18,2023-

Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella, in Tulare County, the nation’s second-largest pistachio grower and processor, has expanded their line of premium pistachios by opening a fully dedicated USDA organic-certified facility, Setton Organic, LLC. Located in Ducor, California just five miles south of the main processing plant, Setton’s products will now include SKUs in the rapidly growing organic category, with retail and bulk lines offering both roasted and raw in-shell and kernel pistachios.

“Our philosophy of expanding thoughtfully and sustainably drives all our efforts,” said Setton Farms COO Mia Cohen. “Offering the world our nutrient-dense organic pistachios is simply the next step in this process.”

Growing premium quality, organic pistachios begin in Setton Farms’ orchard. Natural repellants mitigate crop damage while the soil is fortified with compost from the pistachio hulls, leaves, and branches sorted out during harvest. All equipment and silos are certified for use by CCOF, granting Setton’s products the official USDA organic seal.

Setton’s processing method, known for exceeding industry quality standards, utilizes three sorting techniques and a proprietary pasteurization system. A.I. driven inspection, sampling, and automated packing streamline the process from start to finish. This technologically advanced 45,000 square foot operating facility is equipped with four retail packaging lines and three bulk packaging lines, which will offer both roasted and raw in-shell and kernel pistachios. The certified organic classic roasted salted variety is available now in a 7-ounce resealable bag. A versatile new display ships preloaded and can hang from a quarter pallet bin or stand upright on the provided base.

Big crop this year

This year’s pistachio crop will be another record estimated at 1.5 billion pounds. The largest crop to date was several years ago at 1.16 billion pounds The trade group American Pistachio Growers recently suggested that it could grow to 2 billion pounds by 2031. Among some growers, the prediction is spurring fears of over planting and potentially hurting prices.

Processors are offering every kind of flavored nut to stimulate demand.

Leprino wastewater will irrigate more crops

More recycled water will be put to good use on land locally where groundwater quality is poor. The Lemoore & Leprino Recycled Water Project would expand use of reclaimed water by increasing the discharge of combined effluent from 5.0 to 7.0 million gallons per day for irrigation of crops at River Ranch, and expand existing land application area from 1,900 to approx. 2,400 acres.

The combined effluent consists of disinfected secondary-23 recycled water from the City of Lemoore WWTF and cheese production water from Leprino Foods Company. It will be sent to the River Ranch property via an existing recycled water pipeline.

The Regional Water Quality Control Board found that the quality of shallow ground water at the ranch was known to be poor since the early 1980s.In 1982 the Kings River Conservation District conducted a study in the Stone Ranch area to document the extent of shallow ground water with salinity and boron levels too high to be used as irrigation water supply.

The proposed projects consist of irrigating 2416 acres of farmland that will be planted with forage, green cotton, corn, alfalfa and tomatoes. The proposed combined effluent flow of 7MGD is an increase of 40% over the current permitted flow. The River Ranch is located near NAS Lemoore.

Leprino Foods Company owns and operates two cheese production facilities in the City of Lemoore that process approximately fourteen million pounds of milk, producing an average of 1.5 million pounds of mozzarella cheese per day. Together the two cheese production facilities generate approximately 2.75 million gallons per day of process water that is conveyed to Leprino’s wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), located adjacent to the City of Lemoore’s WWTP. The source of water used at the Leprino facilities is supplied by the City of Lemoore.

The proposed project would increase the average monthly discharge from five to seven MGD and expand the land application area to include an adjoining 520-acre parcel, formally known as the Nederend property. Stone Ranch (owned by Leprino) and the adjacent Nederend property are collectively referred to as the River Ranch.

Dewatering of the Friant Kern Canal began November 1st with the canal back in service on February 1st. Contractors hope to have the Middle Reach replacement canal ready for water as well in February.
Corn prices: Midwest farmers are harvesting the largest U.S. corn crop ever at 15.2 billion bushels sayd USDA pushing the bushel price down- good news for the Western US livestock industry. The corn price today sits at $4.76 a bushel, the lowest this year. In January, corn was priced near $7.00 a bushel – putting the squeeze on feed prices.

LA to pull turf to save water

A state grant will help Metropolitan Water District increase its turf replacement rebate for businesses and institutions from $2 to $3 a square foot in 2024. The funds will help offset costs to convert up to 30 million square feet of non-functional turf into water-efficient landscaping, building on Metropolitan’s highly successful turf rebate program. In total, the program has directly resulted in the removal of about 218 million square feet of grass, saving enough water to serve about 68,000 households annually.

Last month, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1572, legislation co-sponsored by Metropolitan to phase out the use of potable water to irrigate grass that is not used for recreation or other purposes on commercial, industrial, municipal and institutional properties, beginning in 2027.

No impact on taste

-October 6,2023-

California citrus growers faced significant pest challenges this season due to the unprecedented rainfall from atmospheric rivers. The unusual weather pattern disrupted typical citrus thrips timing in orchards and led to uncontrollable conditions in the field.

Reports from the California Citrus Mutual (CCM) Pest and Disease Task Force indicate that some growers have experienced exterior fruit scarring on as much as 80% of the fruit on individual blocks, primarily affecting navels but with varying impacts to mandarins, lemons, and other citrus varieties.

“It’s been an extremely challenging pest season for citrus growers,” says CCM President Casey Creamer of Exeter. “The industry did its absolute best in trying to control this unprecedented thrips season. Growers bear that cost while also facing the reality that the pest pressure will result in decreased returns in the marketplace.”

The CCM Marketing Committee estimates that 30% of the navel crop has thrips scarring and the utilized volume will be 8% to 15% under the previous season’s production due to thrips. The Committee also estimates that the mandarin and lemon crops will also be down 5% compared to the previous season’s utilized production.

Visual effects from thrips have no effect on the interior fruit quality, taste or texture. Consumers can still expect the same exceptional eating experience they are used to with California citrus with higher volumes of choice fruit. Fancy fruit, with minimal external scarring or damage, will be a premium commodity this season.

“Despite these challenges, our growers remain optimistic about the fruit quality on the tree this season. The overabundance of water has reservoirs full and has reinvigorated the groves after three years of extreme drought conditions,” says Creamer.

VIRTUAL FENCING TECHNOLOGY Using GPS and radio signals, land managers can more easily create and change the borders of pastures in ways not possible with physical fences.

© Tony Capizzo/TNC

What Is Virtual Fencing?

Hailed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a climate adaption strategy, virtual fencing is an innovative technology that enables ranchers to use a smartphone or web app to remotely monitor and control where and when livestock graze. Virtual fences can reduce the need for physical fences, which require significant time, expense and labor to maintain. Physical fences also limit land managers in their ability to change grazing boundaries to adapt to seasonal changes in vegetation or to exclude cattle from ecologically sensitive areas.

How does virtual fencing work?

The cows are outfitted with battery-operated, GPS-enabled collars that emit a radio frequency to communicate with reception towers, creating virtual grazing boundaries set by a rancher or land manager. When a cow approaches the edge of the virtual boundary, the collar emits a sound signaling it to turn around. If the cow proceeds to cross the boundary, it receives a momentary benign shock, signaling that it’s gone too far and should rejoin the herd. Research shows that the cows are trained in as little as four days to respond to the auditory cues alone.

At scale, we believe virtual fencing can help land managers better implement management practices that regenerate land health, help address climate change and biodiversity loss, and improve economic outcomes for ranchers.

WILLIAM BURNIDGE

Dep. Dir. TNC’s North America Regenerative Grazing Lands Strategy

Virtual Fences as a Conservation Strategy

Grasslands are the least protected habitat on earth and one of the most effective carbon sinks, storing up to 20% of the world’s soil organic carbon. Unfortunately, grasslands are continuing to rapidly disappear for several reasons, including urban sprawl, conversion to row crop agriculture, and energy development. Many remaining rangelands are at risk of further degradation due to extreme weather events, land conversion and incompatible management practices.

For optimum ecological health, most grassland ecosystems need periods of disturbance to aerate the soil, stimulate plant growth and recycle nutrients into the soil. Grasslands also need time to recover, allowing plant roots to take hold, thus decreasing the risk of soil erosion and sediment runoff into waterways. Ranchers accomplish this disturbance-rest cycle by managing the timing, location, herd size and intensity of grazing activities—all of which can be time-consuming and expensive.

-September 24,2024-

Tulare County just reported an $8.6 billion crop report in 2022,a record high. The county’s total ag receipts beat out Kern County who reported $7.7 billion, a 7% decrease from 2021.Tulare County’s $8.6 billion is 6.5% above 2021’s value of $8,089,621,300.

Fresno County has yet to report but had a 2021 value of $8.08 billion.A key factor for Fresno County may be the lower price for almonds in 2022,the county’s top crop.

The three counties jockey each year for the bragging rights of number one ag county in the nation.

The key factor was again is the value of milk in 2022 that hit $26.30 per hundredweight, up from $19.10 the year before.Milk volume was steady in Tulare, the nations top milk producer.

Milk continues to be the leading agricultural commodity in Tulare County with a gross value of $2,671,291,000, an increase of $728,248,000 or 37%. Milk represents 31% of the total crop and livestock value for 2022. The value of milk increased by $7.20 per hundredweight (cwt).

Livestock and Poultry’s gross value of $823,251,000 represents an increase of 12% above 2021, mostly due to a higher per unit value for cattle.

The total value of all Field Crop production in 2022 was $745,489,000, an increase of 30% from the previous year. This increase is mostly attributed to better prices for field crops across the board.
Fruit and Nut commodities were valued at $4,127,035,000, a decrease of 10%. This decrease can be partially attributed to a decrease in the value of Lemons, Peaches, Tangerines, and Walnuts. Walnut valuation fell about half from 2021.

Vegetable crops were valued at $26,604,000, representing an increase of nearly 30%. This can be attributed to an increase in harvested acreage for a variety of vegetables.

-September 24,2024-

USDA’s impact on grape industry

Autumn King—a plump, seedless, white grape that ripens in late October in California.

PARLIER, Calif., September 12, 2023 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center (SJVASC) today celebrated 100 years of cooperative research with the grape industry that has positively impacted the way the world grows, cultivates and consumes grapes.

This historic grapevine breeding research program develops and introduces new, high-quality, disease-resistant table grapes and raisins cultivars. The first table grape cultivar was developed in 1923 in Fresno, California, at the USDA Experiment Vineyard, part of the USDA Bureau of Plant Industry. In 1972, the program became part of ARS, the chief in-house research agency of the USDA.

Since then, ARS scientists have developed over half of the top 10-15 seedless grape varieties. The red seedless ‘Flame’ cultivar grape was grown by ARS scientists in 1973. The green seedless ‘Autum King’ grape was developed and released in 2006, and in 1983, ARS scientists invented seedless black grapes.

“The phenomenal research conducted by our scientists over the past 100 years created a billion-dollar industry and has defined how the world grows and consumes table grapes,” said ARS Administrator Dr. Simon Liu. “As we move into the next 100 years, our collaboration with the San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center will continue to deliver innovative research that will produce high-quality, nutritious fruits for future generations.”
Red seedless grapes were unknown to U.S. consumers before ARS released the Flame variety. The release of another ARS variety, Crimson red seedless, in 1989 further increased this table grape’s popularity. Now grown extensively by domestic and foreign producers, these two varieties comprise a significant part of today’s consumer market for table grapes.
“The farming community in California produces 99 percent of the table grapes grown in the United States, and scientists working at SJVASC have led this effort,” said ARS Pacific West Area Director Dr. Tara McHugh. “This day recognizes a century of innovative research that has increased crop productivity and improved the quality and marketability of the table grapes we eat today.”

-August 31,2023-

 

2023 processing tomato crop up 21%

As of May 15, California’s tomato processors reported they have or will have contracts for 12.7 million tons of processing tomatoes for 2023. This production estimate is 2.4% higher than the January intentions forecast of 12.4 million tons and 21.4% above the final 2022 contracted production total.
The May contracted acreage of 254,000 is 2.4% above the January intentions forecast of 248,000 acres and 24,000 acres more than last year’s final contracted acreage.
Fresno County remains the top California county in contracted planted acreage for 2023 with 62,300 acres. Yolo, Merced, San Joaquin, and Kings make up the remaining top five counties, accounting for 63.8% percent of the 2023 total contracted planted acreage for California.
After three years of drought conditions, heavy winter storms brought an unprecedented amount of rain to the state, flooding areas in the Central Valley. Fields were wet and muddy well into spring, preventing farmers from planting on schedule. Transplanting continued through May and temperatures remained cooler than normal, resulting in a lag in crop maturity. There is concern that harvest will not be staggered enough for a balanced flow of tomatoes to the canneries. Despite the setbacks, the availability of water and another increase in price agreements have encouraged producers to contract the highest number of planted acres since 2016.
This early processing tomato estimate is funded by the California League of Food Producers.

VALENCIA PRICES UP

California Citrus Mutual reports  that a month ago, Valencia prices were averaging around the $14. This week, it is averaging $17.39. Size structure has been good, and navel orange supply has been gone for a few weeks, which are two large factors for the increase in price. Another factor to the price increases this week is imports dropped. The crop is about 63% harvested, with utilization right around 70%.

PEACH PRICES UP ON GEORGIA FREEZE

According to the University of Georgia, the state normally produces more than 130 million pounds of peaches annually. This season they lost more than 90% of their crop after abnormally warm weather in the winter and a late-season freeze, says Dario Chavez, an associate professor of Horticulture. The last time things were this bad was 1955, according to Lawton Pearson of Pearson Farm in Fort Valley, Ga.

That leaves the California crop to supply fresh eating peaches to the market. Prices to growers are up this year.
The USDA Market website says peaches from the San Joaquin Valley fetched $39 a box in LA for size 40 compared to just $18 a box on the same date -Aug 30- in2022 for the same size fruit.

 

22’ Grape crush tonnage down – prices up

The 2022 California grape crush totaled 3,670,861 tons, down 5.4% from the 2021 crush of 3,880,141 tons. Red wine varieties accounted for the largest share of all grapes crushed, at 1,914,060 tons, down 5.9% from 2021. White wine varieties crushed totaled 1,482,793 tons, down 7.4% from 2021. Tons crushed of raisin type varieties totaled 106,237, down 23.0% from 2021, and tons crushed of table type varieties totaled 167,772, up 55.5% from 2021.

The 2022 average price of all varieties was $932.54, up 8.2% from 2021. Average prices for the 2022 crop by type were as follows: red wine grapes, $1,185.40, up 10.4% from 2021; white wine grapes, $689.45, up 2.1% from 2021; raisin grapes, $309.50, up 6.2% from 2021; and table grapes, $214.13, up 17.1% from 2021.

-August 17,2023-

CALIFORNIA TABLE OLIVE FORECAST CLIMBS

The 2023 California table olive forecast is 41,000 tons, up considerably from last year’s crop of 19,912 tons, according to a survey conducted by the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service. Bearing acreage is estimated at 12,400, which results in a yield of 3.31 tons per acre.

The Manzanillo production forecast is 39,000 tons, Sevillano production forecast is 1,900 tons, and other varieties are expected to total 100 tons.

Record snowfall and a series of atmospheric rivers brought relief to the state’s drought. Availability of water was not an issue and many growers reported a heavy bloom on drought stressed trees that had not produced fruit in years. However, unprecedented stormy conditions and flooding hindered bee pollination activity and damaged blooms, causing low fruit sets in some areas. Growers reported variable crop yields by both variety and area. Manzanillo yields were considerably higher than Sevillano yields. Marketing issues continued to be the biggest challenge for California olives growers, with many uncertain how much of their crop will be economical to harvest.

California orange forecast released

California’s all-orange forecast dipped to 44 million boxes, down 1.1 million boxes from the June forecast, says USDA in a July 12 report. The full decrease was in the Valencia variety, now forecast at 7 million boxes.The All Orange forecast for California is up 13% from last season’s utilization, the report said. The California navel orange forecast is 37 million boxes (1.48 million tons), unchanged from the previous forecast but up 17% from last season’s utilization.

California’s lemon forecast dropped to 20 million boxes, down 3 million boxes from June.

The California tangerine and tangelo forecast rose 1 million boxes from June and now stands at 22 million boxes.

Florida continues to suffer huge citrus losses. In Florida, all varieties are forecast at 6.15 million boxes (277,000 tons), unchanged from the previous forecast but down 66% from last season’s final utilization.

Growers Optimistic Over Walnut Outlook

California Walnut Board

What a difference a year makes! The California walnut industry is gearing up for a stellar 2023 harvest and shipping season after several years of drought, record low grower returns, COVID disrupted markets with supply chain challenges and a devastating heat wave in September 2022 that negatively impacted the entire crop. Here’s why this season is lining up to be a different story.

Quality is expected to be excellent due to favorable growing conditions.

Last winter’s prolonged heavy rains in the California walnut growing regions helped restore deep soil moisture and provided for healthy root zones, enabling trees to better tolerate late season high temperatures. The state also benefited from an extensive snowpack which has provided all growing regions with sufficient water to support the trees and the crops through this season.

The much-needed chilling hours were at normal levels, placing the trees into a deep winter dormancy and a prolonged “rest and recuperation” period. Mild spring temperatures were ideal and produced full, vibrant, vigorous tree canopies which supported strong pollination, resulting in robust nut sets throughout the orchards.

“This year, our trees are more capable of handling higher temperatures than the previous years when the trees were under stress due to long-term deficit irrigation,” commented fourth-generation grower and handler Bill Carriere of Glenn, California. “Long-time growers have commented that the trees have not looked this strong and healthy in at least six to seven years. The full leaf canopy provided excellent temperature control and sun protection during the spring and summer months, allowing the walnuts to grow evenly with minimal sunburn. I am very optimistic that this year will mark a return to the premium quality walnuts we are known for in California.”

Acreage adjustments

Record low prices, brought on by an oversupply of darker than normal walnut kernels and weak demand in international markets, have taken a toll on growers, some opting to remove orchards from production.

The extent of the acreage shift became more evident in an acreage survey conducted by the California Walnut Board between October 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023. For the first time ever, the acreage of California walnuts declined with 23,000 acres removed during the nine-month period. The industry will likely see additional reductions between July and December 2023, as more growers decide to shift to other crops and the needed tree removal equipment becomes available.

However, even with the removal of these orchards, the industry has a strong production base with approximately 380,000 producing acres and 37,000 younger non-bearing acres.

“This week, the California Walnut Board released the monthly and year-to-date shipment report which highlighted an additional reason why I am bullish about the upcoming season,” remarked Martin Mariani, a grower/processor from Winters, California, “The data shows that we have shipped the equivalent of 730,488 tons this season from an available inventory of 880,000 tons.” He went on to explain that when taking into consideration the high sales commitments going into the fall, “we are virtually sold out of available inventory, which bodes well for the industry. I can’t wait to bring the new crop to market.”

Big corn and soybean crops in 2023 drops futures

The farm-gate value of U.S. corn and soybeans, the two most widely grown crops in the country, will fall 16 percent compared to last year’s harvests due to a steep drop in commodity prices, says USDA. The season-average price for corn was forecast to be $1.70 a bushel below the near-record prices paid for the 2022 crop, and soybeans were expected to be $1.50 a bushel below last year’s price.

Corn prices reached $8 a bushel last summer but this week corn is expected to trade at 461.85 USd/BU by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics to 425.98 in 12 months time.Livestock folks are celebrating the big crop as their feed costs are going down

Likewise for soybean futures -now below $14.0 per bushel ($13.40) – the lowest in two months due to rainy weather across much of the key U.S. crop belt and forecasts for good growing conditions for August.Just over 70 percent of the soybeans grown in the United States are used for animal feed, with poultry being the number one livestock sector consuming soybeans, followed by hogs, dairy, beef and aquaculture.

Since these two crops are tied to so many end product foods we eat, these lower costs could help reduce food inflation in the US,said to be going down.

Imports up – Exports down

At the three-quarter point in the trade year, U.S. food and agricultural imports were nearly $7 billion larger than farm exports, $148.2 billion vs. $141.4 billion, according to USDA data released recently.The agency has forecast a $17 billion food trade deficit for the 12 months ending on Sept. 30, due to a drop-off in corn, wheat, beef, and poultry exports, while demand remained strong for imports that include wine, coffee, beer, fresh fruits and vegetables, and distilled spirits.Around 50% of all U.S. agricultural imports are horticultural products like fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, and more.

– Monterey/Santa Barbara see higher numbers

Monterey County

-Typically one for the top ag production county Monterey County is often the earliest to publish farm statistics form the year before.

The 22’ report reflects a production gross value of $4,638,336,000 which is an increase of 13.1% from 2021.

The ag commissioner’s reports says top valued commodities this year include Strawberries which maintain the top spot with a gross production value of $958,774,000, a 1% decrease from 2021. Leaf lettuce, including Romaine and other leaf lettuce varieties, continued to be the 2nd most valuable crop at $842,462,000 with an increase of 13.6%, and Head lettuce as the 3rd most valuable crop at $546,786,000 with an increase of 21.1%. While it is good to see values remain high for lettuces, Impatiens necrotic spot virus (INSV) continues to impact lettuce production resulting in reduced yields.

Collaborations among growers, industry, USDA, and the University of California Extension have been crucial in finding solutions to help control the disease. Broccoli remained at 4th place ranking with a 67.7% increase to $519,049,000. Broccoli’s significant increase in value was due in part to increased production volumes and good pricing during the year.

Overall, the Vegetable Crops category saw an increase in value of 21.8% to $3,129,167,000. Fruits and Nuts category had a decrease of 3.9% to $1,234,722,000 primarily due to unseasonable warm weather observed in mid to late summer that reduced production yields for wine grapes- valuation was down. Wine Grapes ranked 7th in production value in 2022. Seeds and Field Crops saw increases, and Livestock remained steady.

Cannabis sales in Monterey County dropped by more than half on a lower price per unit.
Santa Barbara County

Ag production Santa Barbara County saw a gross value of $1,930,445,000 -an increase of 5.1% from 2021. Strawberries, in 2022, continue to remain as the top crop with an increase of $10,437,000 for a value of $810,923,000.

Cauliflower moved up to the 2nd most valuable crop at
$96,657,000 with an increase of $16,358,000. Wine Grapes
remained the 3rd most valuable crop at $96,334,000 even
though it saw a decrease from 2021 of 8.4%. Nursery Products
moved down to the 4th spot with a total value of $95,318,000,
a decrease of 20%.

The Fruit & Nuts Category saw an increase in value of 4.8%
to $988,331,000 representing 51% of the county total gross
production value. Vegetable Crops saw an increase of 12.4% to
$660,562,000, representing 33% of the total gross production
value. Wine grapes saw a decrease in value of 8.4% to
$96,334,000 representing 5% of total gross production value.
The Nursery category saw a decrease of 20% to $95,318,000.
Livestock, Apiary, Field and Seeds Crops all saw an increase of
8.7%, 9.1%, and 8.5% respectively.

The total Cannabis production amount for 2022 was estimated
to be $260,370,000. Cannabis is not included in the county
total gross production total.

The Santa Barbara Independent reports that statewide there is a glut on cannabis and the prices for wholesale cannabis flower have plunged by half from their peak of $1,400 in 2020 to about $660 per pound now. “The state is believed to be producing three times as much pot as residents can consume — much of it grown in Santa Barbara County — effectively fueling the black market where, by most estimates, two-thirds of the sales are taking place.
Statewide, county officials said, the number of active cannabis cultivation licenses has fallen by 20 percent since early 2022, as a host of provisional licenses expired and were not renewed.”