SJ County ag sets records

By Craig W. Anderson

Agriculture in 2008 hovered at the edge of the economic downturn and as the year progressed, some sectors of San Joaquin County’s agriculture began feeling the effects of the fiscal fiasco with dairy leading the way.

But overall, San Joaquin County’s agriculture in 2008 was a good enough to establish an estimated gross production value of $2,129,725,000, an increase of more than 6 percent over 2007’s $2,005,793,000.

Leading 2008 was dairy with a value of $412,643,000, a drop of more than $33 million from 2007 but still holding its position as, said Agricultural Commissioner Scott Hudson, “the easy leader as the commodity with the largest value in San Joaquin County.” Milk also represents 19 percent of the total gross production value.

Although milk remained in the top spot, Hudson said the commodity would probably fall further in 2009 because of the continued financial stress placed on dairies due to ongoing low prices.

Following milk were: grapes ($221,807,000; 10 percent of the production total); walnuts ($178,500,000; 8 percent); cherries ($175,922,000; 8 percent); almond meats ($175,200,000; 8 percent); tomatoes ($145,506,000; 7 percent); hay, all ($108,970,000; 5 percent); cattle and calves ($97,788,000; 5 percent); corn, grain ($69,564,000; 3 percent); and apples ($48,455,000; 2 percent, a $10 million increase over the previous year).

All other crops comprised 25 percent of the estimated gross production for 2008.

Hudson comments on cropstc "Hudson comments on crops"

Hudson said he found the large walnut crop “somewhat surprising because of its historically large yield which lifted it into third place after being ranked No. 5 in 2007.” He said prices remained steady and good weather helped deliver the large crop.

“Grapes held their own in the No. 2 position due to higher prices that offset a drop off in yield,” he said.

The economic downturn blasted the nursery sector via a 38-percent decline from 2007 that was so extreme it knocked the category out of the Top Ten where it had resided for nearly a decade.

“Nursery suffered greatly due to the large decline in housing starts and the general economic downturn,” noted Hudson. “A lot of Southern California nurseries had built places up here and when the housing market went south, they really suffered.”

However, he said many of the larger nurseries were proactive and, anticipating the economic breakdown, they scaled back operations and have been able to deal successfully with the economy’s economic woes.

New crops on the risetc "New crops on the rise"

“2008 was the first year that processing olives enjoyed a category due to young orchards maturing to bearing age,” he said, adding that another new crop also did well. “Bearing blueberry acreage nearly doubled along with the yield per acre as young plants came of age.”

Hudson pointed out that corn and apples were the two crops with the most growth. “People forget how much corn we grow here and apples made a significant comeback after years of not being in the Top Ten.”

High-labor crops feel financial crunchtc "High-labor crops feel financial crunch"

Unfortunately, asparagus continued to decline, falling from 12,600 acres in 2007 to only 9,400 acres in 2008. However, the total gross value rose from 2007’s $32,480,000 to $36,322,000 in 2008, which is good news despite the vegetable being cut out of the Top Ten. Price fluctuations and competition both foreign and domestic are the primary impediments to asparagus success.

“All high-labor crops like asparagus are challenged for a variety of reasons,” Hudson said. Ironically, labor for labor-intensive crops is readily available in part due to the housing and construction industries grinding to a halt which released more people into the labor force; employees who had left agriculture for the construction industry are now returning to ag.

Cattle ‘n calves comebacktc "Cattle ‘n calves comeback"

“Another, although milder, surprise is the high finish of cattle and calves because of the drought that causes rangeland to suffer,” Hudson said. “We had a disaster declaration for the drought in 2008 and yet ranchers demonstrated their resiliency in very difficult circumstances.”

Various categories improve and exports still goodtc "Various categories improve and exports still good"

In fact, he said, 2008 “showed an increase in value for the categories of fruit and nut crops, field crops, vegetable seed and livestock. Corn silage in particular jumped to $41,625,000 from $18,432,000 and other silage, including green chop likewise soared to $21,208,000 from $7,695,000 and wheat doubled in value to $19,148,000 from $8,143,000 in 2007.

“Exports remain good with Japan leading the way with 25.7 percent of our export shipments,” Hudson said. Following Japan were Taiwan (12.5 percent), Republic of Korea (11.5 percent), Mexico (8.5 percent), United Kingdom (5.6 percent), Australia (3.5 percent), Italy (3.4 percent), Spain (3.3 percent), Germany (2.6 percent) and United Arab Emirates (2 percent).

Many crops No. 1 in statetc "Many crops No. 1 in state"

In comparing the county’s percentage of the state’s production value for various crops, San Joaquin County was rated No. 1 for pumpkins, beans, cherries, asparagus, apples, corn (grain) and walnuts. In fact, the county’s production in 20 crops was ranked in the top four statewide.

75th anniversary of reporttc "75th anniversary of report"

The 2008 Crop Report represented the 75th anniversary of such reports. The first Agricultural Commissioner’s Crop Report in 1935 revealed the following Top Ten: grapes, alfalfa, asparagus, beans, barley, potatoes, sugar beets, corn, celery and tomatoes.

And 1934’s farmers – still immersed in the Great Depression – said they faced variable market conditions, yields and prices, late frost, early rains, pests and diseases, all of which sounds familiar to today’s farmers, lending credence to the adage, “The more things change, the more they remain the same.”