During her presentation of the 2019 Sacramento County Crop and Livestock Report at the Nov. 17 Board of Supervisors meeting, Agriculture Commissioner, Chris Flores reported that the gross value of all agricultural products in Sacramento County was a little more than $460 million in 2019. The number represents the gross production value of all agricultural commodities and does not reflect actual profits or losses.
Wine grapes were once again the county’s leading cash crop, with a value of $175 million, even though harvested acreage, tonnage and price per ton were less last year than previous years. Wine grapes alone accounted for 38 percent of total production value of crops and livestock.
Milk remains the second-highest cash value commodity, at $52.3 million.
The most exported Sacramento County produced crop was pears. Some 5.4 million pounds were exported to 6 countries, including Canada, Ecuador, French Polynesia, Guatemala and Mexico.
The 2019 Crop and Livestock report includes a 50-year lookback of the County’s agricultural history. In 1969, the most valuable commodity was cattle and calves. Fruits and nuts comprised only 11.5 percent of all agricultural products grown in Sacramento County 50 years ago. In 2019, fruits and nuts made up nearly half of the county’s bounty, at 46.2%.
Every year, the value of specific commodities rises or falls based on weather, supply and demand, and market forces. In 2019, almonds, sweet corn and honey/pollination services (among other crops) experienced increases, while aquaculture, cattle and calves, and cherries (among others) experienced downturns. Cherries alone lost more than $6 million in value because of damage caused by late spring rainstorms.
Top 10 Agricultural Commodities in 2019
- Wine grapes
- Milk
- Nursery stock
- Poultry
- Pears
- Aquaculture (fish, crustaceans, mollusks and aquatic plants)
- Cattle and calves
- Hay (alfalfa)
- Rice
- Field corn (corn grown to feed livestock)
