CDFA has released the 2019 crop year report, and it shows farmers and ranchers earned $50 billion in cash receipts, up slightly from the previous year.
Milk, California’s leading commodity, increased by 15%, with more than $7 billion in cash receipts. The state produced 19% of the nation’s supply. Almonds were up nearly 9%, generating about $6 billion in cash receipts. Almond growers added 90,000 bearing acres, though the price per pound fell by seven cents. The share of organic sales continued to grow by 3.5%.
Grape production, however, was down more than 13%, at $5.4 billion.
The number of farms grew by less than 1% to nearly 70,000, while the average farm size dropped slightly. The average value of farm real estate grew 7%. Fresno was the top ag county, followed Kern and Tulare.
