Sacramento County’s 2015 Crop & Livestock Report has been released. And, it reveals Sacramento County was, once again, the top-producer of pears in California.
Regarding the gross value of each commodity, Sacramento County’s top agricultural commodity for 2015 was wine grapes, with a gross value of $128,134,000. Milk was second ($49,077,000), and pears finished the year as the third highest commodity ($39,893,000). Poultry was a close fourth at $39,415,000.
Overall, the crop production value of 2015 decreased 6.4% in 2015 ($469,947,546) from 2014 ($502,274,000). According to Juli Jensen, Agricultural Commissioner and Director of Weights and Measures, “The decrease is due in part to the continuing drought, but also in greater part to a drop in prices for many of our agricultural commodities.” The drop in prices may have been a price adjustment, since 2014 prices had significantly increased from 2013.
Jensen would like to eventually expand the Crop and Livestock Report to more fully illustrate the economic drive of agriculture in Sacramento County; revenue due to agriculture ranges far beyond the cultivation and harvesting of crops. Agricultural production creates jobs in industries such as transportation and restaurants, in addition to others.
Even Sacramento County urbanites have come to embrace our farming heritage annually, as we celebrate our Farm to Fork Festival on September 24.
Bon appetit!