The San Benito County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office recently released the 2017 crop report.
That report came out several months later than usual due to the county’s computer security issues in the late summer.
Overall, the report describes an up and down year depending on the commodity type, but also a relatively stable agriculture industry as a whole.
The summary of the report signed by Agricultural Commissioner Karen Overstreet notes that San Benito County that year remained in the top five statewide producers of specialty vegetable crops, spinach, lettuce, and salad products.
Overall production value decreased slightly from $365.15 million in 2016 to $361.34 million in 2017, according to the report. The agriculture office attributed some of that drop to issues like labor and traffic.
Some of the other highlights leading off the report:
- There were average yields for most crops.
- There has been an increase in the amount of overall acreage farmed due to expansion of leafy green growth. Spinach moved to No. 2 in the Top 10 list and broccoli is now No. 7.
- Cattle prices were up slightly.
- It was a good year for tree crops
- Walnut prices dropped significantly for a third straight year.
- Wine grape yields were off slightly.
- Gross sales were down 4% to $13.8 million.
The following are some of the data included in the report.
