LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The latest Lake County crop report had positive news, including increased values for the county's top crops and a growth in the overall value of the county's agricultural products.
The report, which covers 2009, was presented to the Board of Supervisors Sept. 28 by Deputy Agricultural Commissioner Kris Eutenier.
Eutenier touched on some of the report's highlights, including the fact that Lake County has 103 registered organic farms accounting for 2,209 acres of production.
Organic crops were valued at $2.9 million in Lake County in 2009, with the rest of the county's crops totaling $65,153,961, which Agricultural Commissioner Steve Hajik noted in the document accounted for a 6 percent increase over 2008.
The report explained that the increase in agricultural products' value was primarily due to increased fruit and nut crop tonnage.
Hajik's preface to the report explained that the document represents gross agricultural receipts and does not reflect production costs or producers' net income.
Lake County's top crop once again was winegrapes, with a gross value of just over $38.4 million, which Hajik said was a 12-percent increase over the previous year.
During 2009 winegrape acres totaled 7,715, the report showed, with 31,623 tons produced.
While report figures showed a 289-acre decrease, total tonnage nonetheless increased by 13 percent. At the same time, the per-acre tonnage increased 17 percent, while prices per ton – averaging $1,216 for all varietals – remained “relatively unchanged,” Hajik reported.
Red varietals led with 18,817 tons and 5,115 bearing acres, with average returns of $1,357 per ton. Cabernet Sauvignon grapes were the county's most abundant varietal, at 10,523.9 tons produced.
White winegrape varietals totaled 12,806 acres, with 2,600 bearing acres. Average per-ton returns were reported to be $1,008. Sauvignon Blanc, a noted grape for the county, was the second-highest grape produced, with 9,575.1 tons.
Pinot Noir grapes had the highest return per ton, at $2,899.89, followed by Primitivo at $2,245.66 and Malbec with $1,76.72. Lowest per-ton value was for Sauvignon Blanc, at $942.56.
Pears, another important local crop, saw a gross value increase of 9 percent over 2008, rising to $16.8 million, which are the value of the pears after they were packed and processed, Hajik said in the report.
Overall pear production increased by 9 percent, the report stated.
Just over 40,000 tons of pears were produced in Lake County in 2009, the report showed. The county's signature Bartlett pear had the largest amount of tonnage, with 36,473 tons produced.
The report showed that total pear acreage was 2,208 acres for 2009, the same as the previous year. Like winegrapes, the pear prices per ton remained the same, Hajik said. At an average of $892 per ton, red pears had the highest average return.
Walnuts came in with a gross value of $2.3 million, which Hajik said accounted for a 91-percent jump over 2008. At the same time, production increased 104 percent.
He said per-ton prices decreased by 7 percent, falling to $1,820, and acreage remained relatively unchanged at 2,600 acres, a decrease of 50 acres from 2008.
Several agricultural commodities saw drops in value, including vegetable crops, $193,288, down 12 percent; field crops, $1.6 million, down 18 percent; nursery production, $3.5 million, down 39 percent; and livestock and poultry production, $101,715, down 60 percent.
Livestock production totaled $1.9 million, up 4 percent from 2008, while timber had no production in 2009, just as it hadn't the previous year, the report said.
At the Sept. 28 board meeting, Supervisors Denise Rushing asked Eutenier about organic winegrape growing in the county.
Eutenier said the amount of organic winegrapes grown locally going forward will hinge on whether or not the European grapevine moth comes into the county.
She said that, if it does, organic growers will have a hard time fighting it. Some Napa organic growers have switched over to conventional in order to be able to spray for the pest, she added.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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