Happy Cows, Delighted Chickens, and Optimistic Almonds-

Crop Values on the Rise in the County’s Ag Report

Merced County’s farm products dominate this mural above the checkouts at the Raley’s store in Merced.  

Many shoppers at local supermarkets like Raley’s in Merced are well aware of the contributions by local growers to agriculture.

Farming is a big component to the local economy.  It stabilizes other sectors during difficult times.  A former City Manager once described the agriculture sector in Merced as being a reliable delivery channel for economic activity.

Every year, the County Board of Supervisors gets the message loud and clear in the form of the annual Agriculture Report.

Farmers in Merced County might see some good news within the pages of the 2020 Merced County Report of Agriculture. 

The report is done in compliance with state Food and Ag Code.  It summarizes gross value of the County’s agricultural commodities, along with updates to the amount of acreage and production in the farming sector.

In 2020, agriculture commodities grossed $3,401,610,000 representing an increase of $240.632,000 or 7% from the 2019 total value . 

County Agriculture Commissioner David A. Robinson reports these figures represent only gross returns to the producer.  It does not take into account costs of production, marketing, or transportation.

As a result, net income or loss to the producer is not reflected in this report. 

It is a report that brought no surprise to Commissioner Robinson.

“Nothing notable in the crop report that is surprising,” was the department’s response to my questions.  “A trend we are seeing is field crop acreage is decreasing due to drought.”

The 2020 Merced County Report of Agriculture is available on the County’s website (https://www.co.merced.ca.us/DocumentCenter/View/28218/2020-MERCED-COUNTY-ANNUAL-CROP-REPORT?bidId=) 

Once again, dairy is the biggest sector of agriculture in Merced County with the overall gross value of $1,050,940,000 representing a third of all commodities produced here. 

Behind those numbers is an increase in the amount a dairy farmer is paid for milk. While production increased in 2020, the price per hundredweight (one hundred pounds of milk) paid to farmers increased by $2.30 to $18.70 from 2019.

Almonds did well as a cash crop for area farmers according to the 2020 Agriculture Report.  Photo:  Steve Newvine

Almonds remain the second leading commodity in Merced County.  The gross production value of $470,603,000 for the commodity represents a 12% increase from 2019. 

Almond acreage increased, but prices fell 26% from 2019. 

Chickens rose to the number three position with a gross production value of $318,522,000 for 2020. There were ten million more chickens raised in the County in 2020 than in the prior year.

The report shows the values of cattle and calves moving down with a gross production value of $262,187,000. That is a decrease of 13% from 2019.  Herd sizes increased, but values decreased.

A breakdown of each category, along with graphs, and explanations, is available on the County website (https://www.co.merced.ca.us/DocumentCenter/View/28218/2020-MERCED-COUNTY-ANNUAL-CROP-REPORT?bidId=)  

The report also contains summaries on Agriculture Commission programs such as pest detection, industrial help, and nursery inspection.

There’s also a summary of all the countries that buy farm products from Merced County.  It may be no surprise, but here are the top five countries that have been issued phytosanitary certificates. 

These certificates relate to the health of plants with respect to international trade requirements. 

1.India 

2.Spain 

3.Italy  

4.Japan  

5.Mexico 

While the 2020 report makes clear the crop values do not take into account grower costs, there will likely be some changes in the numbers in the 2021 report.  Those changes may the impact of reflect higher costs for transportation and all the necessities needed to grow and market crops.  

The department would not say what impact higher fuel prices might have in 2021 as they do not gather this kind of information.

There was no information on the impact of COVID 19 on the past year’s production.  But the department did acknowledge 2020 was a challenging year for agricultural producers.

“All farmers had challenges due to COVID and continue to have challenges due to one thing or another,” a department response stated.

This time next year, we should expect the report to reflect the impact inflation may have on grower production and profitability.  The long-term impact of the pandemic may also show up in the numbers for the future.

But it is clear from the report that agriculture continues to be a big cog in the wheel of the local economy and this is unlikely to change for quite some time.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced. 

His book Can Do Californians is available at Lulu.com, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.com