Title
Agriculture Department recommending the Board receive and file the El Dorado-Alpine Counties 2024 Agricultural Crop and Livestock Report.
FUNDING: General Fund/Unclaimed Gas Tax.
Body
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
An annual El Dorado and Alpine Counties crop report is required in accordance with Sections 2271 and 2279 of the California's Food and Agricultural Code for the purpose of publishing an accurate and meaningful report of the agricultural conditions. Lending/financial institutions, news outlets, statistical services, education centers, realty agencies, and prospective agricultural land purchasers are extremely interested in the annual crop report. The crop report represents an overview summary of our top commodities, thus protecting the privacy of our growers and ranchers while emphasizing the importance of agriculture to our local economy.
The gross crop value for the County of El Dorado was $77.8 million in 2024, representing a decrease of 3.3% over the 2023 value. The highest value crop in 2024 was livestock, at $21.2 million. This is a 26.3% increase over the 2023 value, and marks the second year of a steep but steady rise in beef prices. The next highest value crop was timber at $10.8 million, reflecting an increase of 51.2% as timber harvests continue to increase following the 2021 Caldor Fire. The apple crop declined in 2024 to a value of $12.4 million, primarily due to a dip in average yield from a massive 10.23 tons per acre in 2023 to only 4.17 tons per acre in 2024. Wine grape values declined 17.3% from $9.75 million in 2023 to $8.09 million in 2024. Roughly 16.5% of grape tonnage grown in 2024 was not sold or utilized. Vineyard owners reported difficulty in finding buyers for their grapes, a struggle shared by growers throughout the state. A full and detailed breakdown of the County’s wine grape harvest can be found in our annual Wine Grape Survey Report.
Monetary values in this report are F.O.B. (Freight On Board) and do not reflect ne...
Click here for full text