Santa Barbara County strawberries brought in $810 million last year. What about other crops?
Strawberries have again taken the top crop spot with a total gross value of more than $810 million, and cauliflower and wine grapes are the second and third most valuable crops in Santa Barbara County, the county Agricultural Commissioner’s Office said in its recently released crop report for 2022.
“Agriculture continues to be Santa Barbara County’s largest-producing industry with a gross production value of $1,930,445,000,” county spokeswoman Kelsey Gerckens Buttitta said in a news release. “This is an increase of 5.1% when compared with the 2021 figure. It is important to note that the values represented in this report reflect gross value of agricultural commodities grown in Santa Barbara County, and does not consider costs associated with labor, planting, irrigation and distribution, among other production activities.”
In 2022, the gross value of strawberries increased more than $10 million from 2021, for a total of $810,923,000, and cauliflower became the second most valuable crop with a gross value of $96,657,000, with the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office crediting the popularity of riced cauliflower and other cauliflower products for the increased demand.
Wine grapes saw an 8.4% decrease in total gross production value, but it remained in its spot as the third most valuable crop at $96,334,000.
Nursery products also saw a decrease of 20%, for a total value of $95,318,000. Labor shortages, foreign competition and alternative uses for greenhouses are cited as some of the reasons for the decrease.
The overall fruits and nuts category saw an increase of 4.8% to more than $988 million, making up about 51% of the county’s total gross production value. Meanwhile, vegetable crops — which represent about 34% of the county’s total gross production — increased in value 12.4% to more than $660 million.
Livestock, apiary, field and seed crops also saw growth in 2022 with increases of 8.7%, 9.1% and 8.5%, respectively.
The report also provided information on cannabis production and value, although it is not included in the county’s total gross production value.
With 1,826 cannabis cultivation licenses of all types issued in the county, the total cannabis production value in 2022 was more than $260 million, with 545,829 pounds of cannabis flower produced, as well as 6,263,446 pounds of fresh cannabis plant/leaf and 11,269,644 seeds, clones or immature plants, the report said.
Additionally, the crop report showed Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates as the top five countries to which Santa Barbara County exported crops. For each of those countries, strawberries were the top crop exported.
More information on the county’s Agricultural Commissioner’s Office is available on its website, countyofsb.org/266/Agricultural-Commissioner.