 Interior of Gotham Greens in Dixon. (Photo courtesy of 74th Annual Crop and Livestock Report)
74th Annual Crop and Livestock Report
Each year around this time a bit of anticipation begins to build as we await the results of the prior growing season and we get to learn the order of Solano County’s top ten commodities and their economic impact.
This week, Ag Commissioner Ed King presented the 74th Annual Crop and Livestock Report to the Board of Supervisors, and overall, it detailed positive news for Solano County’s farmers and ranchers. That isn’t always the case, as farmers can’t dictate the price of a commodity, nor can they predict what Mother Nature is going to throw at them during a particular growing season.
However, 2023 led to a record in terms of gross value of the county’s Ag production, totaling $460,391,000. That represents a $69.5 million increase, or 18 percent rise over 2022. Some of that can be attributed to higher prices for some crops and favorable weather – namely abundant rainfall that has pulled the state out of drought.
Tomatoes were the top crop for a second consecutive year with a new record value of $101,518,000. This is the first time a Solano County crop has surpassed $100 million in a single season. Area tomato growers are fortunate to have the Campbell’s Soup Company processing facility in Dixon. It is truly an asset that benefits not just the Ag community, but all Solano County residents in some way.
Almonds shot up the list in 2023, landing in the 2nd spot on the top ten list at $43,779,000. Their 106 percent increase in value in 2023 was largely due to the 2022 crop being damaged by frost. As King noted to the Board on Tuesday, there is a large amount of young almond trees that will be coming into production in coming years, foreshadowing the potential for an increase in value ahead.
While winegrapes remained 5th on the list of top commodities, 2023 saw the largest harvest in crop report history. While prices were relatively flat, growers brought increased tonnage to market last year.
Top 10 Commodities 2023 Crop Value
Tomatoes (Processing) $101,518,000
Almonds $43,779,000
Nursery Products $41,452,000
Cattle & Calves $40,461,000
Grapes (Wine) $35,044,000
Alfalfa (Hay) $19,617,000
Prunes (Dried) $12,014,000
Walnuts $11,202,000
Pollination $8,479,000
Sunflower (Seed) $7,087,000
The latest Crop and Livestock Report features indoor agriculture in Solano County and its unique ability to grow crops year-round.
The I-80 corridor in Dixon is home to two facilities specializing in leafy greens, mung bean sprouts and more. Opened in 2021, Gotham Greens utilizes state-of-the-art indoor growing methods to achieve crop yields that surpass conventional field grown vegetables. This is done not only using less water - but space. Output that would typically require 35 acres can be done inside a one-acre greenhouse such as that of Gotham Greens. Not only is the footprint smaller, but the utilization of groundwater is also a fraction of what is needed for conventionally grown field greens.
A few miles away, in the Vacaville-Dixon Greenbelt, is Salad Cosmo. Instead of a greenhouse, Salad Cosmo utilizes cold, dark rooms inside its facility to cultivate mung bean sprouts and radishoots. Microgreens such as these are one of the county’s most popular indoor crops and Salad Cosmo is the only large-scale mung bean producer in the western United States.
Elsewhere, Green Organix is a microgreens and vegetable producer that utilizes aquaponics – a type of hydroponic growing system that integrates fish to ensure nutrient rich water for the growing beds. Another unique indoor crop is Belgian endive. Rio Vista’s Endive Farms grows chicory root outdoors before it is harvested and brought indoors to a dark and humid space where it grows, similar to a mushroom, into the endive you see in the supermarket..
In addition to working with our growers, the Ag Commissioner also serves as the Sealer of Weights and Measures. The annual Crop and Livestock Report details the thousands of annual inspections of everything from livestock scales to gas pump meters and other weighing and measuring devices we use in our daily lives.
Listening to this report during Tuesday’s meeting led me to call out the threat of urban encroachment on processors such as Campbell’s and Superior Farms (the only lamb processor west of the Rockies). These are assets we need to protect as we continue the discussion around Ag sustainability in Solano County.
In addition, I would like to thank Solano County’s Agriculture/Weights and Measures staff for their hard work on the 74th Annual Crop and Livestock Report. I am also appreciative of the farmers and ranchers who cooperate with the department to make the annual report possible. To view the report online, visit: 74th Annual Crop and Livestock Report.
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Since 2003, Supervisor John M. Vasquez has had the privilege to represent the 4th Supervisorial District covering Northern Solano County. The district includes portions of Vacaville and Dixon. He can be reached at (707) 784-6129 or JMVasquez@SolanoCounty.com. |
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