FAIRFIELD — Solano County agriculture continues to see the impact from the Covid pandemic, drought and fires from the last year and yet the agriculture community endures.
The Solano Board of Supervisors recently heard from Ed King, Agricultural Commissioner Sealer of Weights and Measures on the current conditions affecting Solano County crops.
The gross value of Solano County agricultural production in 2020 was $357,159,000, representing a decrease of $14,954,000, or 4% decline from 2019.
“This drop marks one of the steeper annual regressions in crop and livestock values during the past twenty years following downturns of the economic recession in 2009 (-14%) and drought in 2015 (-7%). The Covid-19 pandemic, reemerging drought conditions and devastating wildfires contributed to turbulent markets, supply chain disruptions, food service closures, and crop losses – all of which affected crop and livestock values,” he said in the presentation.
Almonds remained Solano’s top-grossing crop with a total value of $50,700,000, although decreasing 8% in value from 2019. New bearing acreage came into production during the year lowering the total average yield and almond prices fell due to a statewide record harvest, global pandemic turmoil, and ongoing trade issues according to the report.
Processing tomatoes again ranked second in value at $38,078,000, an increase of 3% over 2019, based on strong yields and year-over-year price increases. Nursery Products ranked third in value at $37,466,000, an increase of 20% above 2019, prompted by new interests in gardening incidental to Covid-19 stay-at-home orders. Cattle and Calves ranked fourth in value at $36,069,000, a 2% reduction below 2019, influenced by lower pricing, market fluctuations and meatpacking plant slowdowns and closures. Alfalfa rounded out the top five crops of 2020 at $26,142,000, decreasing nearly 4% due to slightly lower prices than the previous year.
The top five crops in the county included:
- Almonds
- Tomatoes
- Nursery Products
- Cattle and calves
- Alfalfa
Last year’s drought, pandemic restrictions, and subsequent fires provided a blow for some industries and a boon for others.
More people began purchasing almonds and nuts as they have a safe and long shelf life which meant nut farmers saw an increase in product sales. The almond harvest grew 18% to 14,000 tons in 2020. Additionally, 4300 acres of bearing trees went into production. But the large crop volumes were no match for the instability of supply lines caused by the pandemic which saw prices drop globally.
The meatpacking industry saw closures throughout the country not just in California due to the spread of the virus and its impact on the workers. This created a backlog of cattle with ranchers and pricing fluctuations. By mid-summer last year the issues were mostly resolved which fixed the backlog problem. Prices decreased for a short time after this but soon rose again.
The fires last year contributed to a complicated wine season. Crops and infrastructures were lost and on top of that, the grape crops that were survivors of the fires came under scrutiny for contamination from the smoke and ash. Although testing revealed small amounts of actual contamination from smoke and ash, some growers reported wineries rejected grapes. In Solano County growers were not as affected as other areas in California.
Solano Country growers, farmers, and ranchers survived the last year, some even thriving in a difficult and challenging environment, showing just how strong and resilient Solano County can be.
