New numbers show another strong year for Monterey County ag industry

New numbers show another growing year for the agriculture industry in Monterey County.

It is the multi-billion dollar heart of our economy and Tuesday’s release shows it will certainly remain that way.

The industry leaders shared mostly good news when it comes to the money our crops are bringing in.

2017 saw a four percent jump in production to 4.4 billion dollars in value. The top ten crops remain unchanged, with lettuce and strawberries leading the way.

“Of the last nine years, eight of those years we have surpassed the four billion dollars mark, which in my mind demonstrates the stability of agriculture in Monterey County, but also speaks to the economic strength of agriculture here in the County,” said Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner, Henry Gonzales.

While lettuce had a stronger year, strawberries did not. Strawberries saw a slight increase in production but a 40 million dollar value fall attributed largely to them all coming in at the same time. Monterey County Farm Bureau Executive Director Norm Groot says it was because of market conditions and the weather. “All of the supply coming in at once like we had last year had to do weather conditions in the Spring,” Groot said.

Groot and Gonzales both say politics could play a role in Monterey County crop production and value moving forward. We already have a farm worker shortage, and Gonzales says Trump Administration immigration policy is hurting local companies find workers – a large documented and undocumented immigrant population.

“It is the uncertainty that makes everything very, very difficult,” Gonzales said. “The crops
that we grow here, the succulent vegetables, the succulent fruits, require hand labor.”

There is also the possibility of a trade war, especially with NAFTA counties. Canada and Mexico are two of Monterey County’s three largest partners.

“If they are going to put tariffs on some of our products, then certainly it is going to have an impact,” Gonzales said. “Is it going to impact wine grapes and the wine exports that we do. How is it going to impact strawberries?”

Gonzales also says you can expect to see cannabis in next year’s crop report. It will be in the report, in its own section.