Region’s Crop Totals Top $1 Billion for 1999

Ventura County farmers last year sold more than $1 billion in crops for the first time, marking this area’s return as one of California’s top 10 agricultural-producing counties, authorities said Wednesday.

An especially strong year for strawberries, which overtook lemons’ half-century dominance of local crops, helped growers collect a total of $1,059,123,000, according to the 1999 Agricultural Crop Report. This was the county’s best showing in more than five years, Agricultural Commissioner Earl McPhail said.

“Obviously, we’re extremely pleased--Ventura County is now a member of the billion-dollar club,” he said “We’re definitely going to be No. 10, and we might be No. 9, depending on San Diego County.”

Crop values had been hovering near $1 billion for the past few years, drawing $942 million in 1997 and $937 million in 1998. McPhail said exceptionally mild weather last year, in terms of low frost, helped farmers finally reach the 10-figure mark.

The county’s most popular crop has now become its top moneymaker, as strawberry sales exceeded those of lemons by more than $19 million. The juicy red berries prevailed after decades of domination by the sour yellow fruit, McPhail said.

Strawberries raked in more than $220 million in 1999, almost $45 million more than in 1998, and up $77 million from 1997 totals. Lemons, despite making $22 million more than in the previous year, fell sharply behind their sweeter companions.

“It’s great to me, because it means we’re able to live in an area where there’s agriculture and not housing developments,” said David Murray, division manager of Coastal Berry in Oxnard. “It seems like this is a place, if you grow strawberries, that you need to be.”

In fact, Oxnard is California’s second-largest strawberry growing region, behind Watsonville.

Rex Laird, executive director of the Ventura County Farm Bureau, said increases in strawberry sales have been outpacing gains in lemons for several years, which prepared him for the shift. But he said some farmers compare the booming strawberry market to dot-com stocks.

“Strawberries were way up, but strawberries are a commodity that can be up one year and down the next,” McPhail said. “If you look at the total crop report, just about everything is up.”

Nursery stock was also up heartily, increasing in value by about $14 million to nearly $140 million. Oranges, onions and Oriental vegetables joined the climb, each posting substantial gains in value.

While avocados took a production dive, with nearly 6,000 fewer tons grown, the crop’s value soared, posting gains of almost $5 million. Celery, though still the county’s No. 4 crop, suffered a slight downturn, losing more than $4 million from the previous year, down to $113.2 million.

Lettuce and other vegetables were among the handful of crops that suffered hits in 1999. Livestock and poultry--as well as field crops, such as alfalfa and grain--took some of the bigger falls. Livestock and poultry values dipped below $3 million for the first time in more than five years.

Still, the overall news for farmers in Ventura County was good, despite a continued decline in the number of irrigated acres available for farming. Because that amount has shrunk to about 100,000 acres, McPhail said many county growers have switched to more profitable crops.

While Fresno County is still California’s top agricultural producer, McPhail said no one does more with less land than Ventura.

“We’re very proud of our growers and of what they’ve been able to accomplish,” he said. “To come up as much as we did is a lot.”

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Top 10 Crops

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Rank Crop Value 1 Strawberries $220,712,000 2 Lemons $201,643,000 3 Nursery stock * $139,039,000 4 Celery $113,222,000 5 Valencia oranges $70,748,000 6 Avocados $63,348,000 7 Cut flowers $41,676,000 8 Tomatoes $31,700,000 9 Broccoli $18,430,000 10 Lettuce $16,485,000

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* Does not include cut Christmas trees

Source: 1999 Ventura County Annual Crop Report