Agricultural Commissioner Steve Hajik presented the “crop report plus” for 2018 to the Board of Supervisors in December.
As in past years, the report did not include or attempt to quantify the value of cannabis growing in Lake County. Cannabis was legalized in California for medical use in 1996 and for recreational use in 2016.
Hajik previously reported to the supervisors that while cannabis is expected to eventually be included in crop reports, not including it in the reports now is due to it not being recognized as a crop by state and federal officials.
He said that he commissioned a report for 2018 that determined the economic contributions of agriculture in the county based on the 2017 crop report.
Dr. Jeff Lanholz and Dr. Fernando DePaolis of Agricultural Impacts Associates, a consulting firm specializing in agricultural economics, conducted the study on which the latest crop report is based.
Hajik said the report quantifies agriculture’s total economic contributions through food production, local food processing, and employment and economics multiplier effects.
The report said the gross value of agricultural production in Lake County for 2018 was $111,470,311, an 8-percent decrease from 2017 when the total estimated value was $120.8 million.
The report doesn’t represent gross agricultural receipts nor the production costs or net income to producers, Hajik said.
The gross values included in the report represent the value of each commodity at the time of harvest, with the exception of pears. The gross value of pears given is for after they are packed and processed.
Hajik said the crop report plus shows that agriculture has a broader role in sustaining a thriving local economy.
He said that, according to the study, Lake County agriculture contributed $339.2 million to the local economy in 2017 and supported 2,202 jobs.
“To put this in perspective, Lake County agriculture contributes $929,212 per day or $38,717 per hour,” Hajik said in his report to the supervisors.
Hajik said the report found that $241 million came from direct economic output and $98.2 million in additional economic output, specifically, “multipliers” include business-to-business supplier purchases – such as purchasing farm equipment and seed – and consumption spending, such as for groceries and housing, by owners and their employees of agricultural businesses.
There also were 2,061 jobs associated with direct economic output and 141 additional jobs attributed to multiplier effects.
“One in 12 jobs in Lake County are directly attributed to the various agricultural industries. That is 8.5 percent of the county workforce,” Hajik reported to the board.
Hajik said the 8-percent decrease in production value from 2017 to 2018 is attributed to decreases in the value of the winegrape, pear and walnut industries, Lake County’s three main agricultural commodities.
Winegrapes, Lake County’s No. 1 commodity, had a gross value of $81,469,587 in 2018, a decrease of 4 percent from 2017. Total tonnage was 46,426, with total grape acreage at 9,680 acres, an increase of 172 acres. The report said that the tons per acre decreased by 9 percent and the average price decreased by 2 percent.
For pears, the No. 2 commodity, the gross value for 2018 was $21,174,763. Pears shows the largest single decrease of any agricultural product, 21 percent, compared to 2017, according to the report.
The report said total pear production decreased by 8,480 tons and the price per ton also decreased by 2 percent.
While pear acreage remained the same at 2,034 acres, some orchards were removed following the 2018 harvest, the report explained.
For the No. 3 commodity, walnuts, the gross value was $3,450,150, down 6 percent.
The report said that walnut production actually increased in 2018 by 3 percent, but the price per ton decreased by 10 percent and acreage was down by 200 acres.
For the smaller commodities, the report showed a number of increases, including nursery production, 9 percent; livestock production, 15 percent; vegetable production, 19 percent; and miscellaneous fruits and nuts, 2 percent.
The largest single commodity increase was in timber, which saw a 61-percent rise, based on the report.
Among the smaller commodities, there were decreases, including a 6 percent drop for livestock and poultry products and 4 percent reduction for field and seed crops.
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2018 Crop Report for Lake County, California by LakeCoNews on Scribd