Farmers in Santa Clara County collected $8 million less last
year than 2005, in part because of a summer heat wave and an E.
Coli scare, agricultural officials said.
Gilroy – Farmers in Santa Clara County collected $8 million less last year than 2005, in part because of a summer heat wave and an E. Coli scare, agricultural officials said.
Total gross sales of county crops dropped from $252 million in 2005 to $244 million in 2006 – a 3 percent decline. Nursery crops remained the big seller, followed by mushrooms, both of which saw little variation despite the “nominal” drop in overall sales, according to a Santa Clara County Department of Agriculture report.
“A lot of that decline could be attributed to weather and market conditions,” said Kevin O’Day, the department’s deputy agricultural commissioner. “Last summer we had a very extreme heat wave. Those high temperatures damaged a number of crops.”
More than two weeks of sustained highs above 100 degrees at the end of July 2006, which state officials described as the worst heat wave in 57 years, wilted plants on the ground and in storage. The hardest hit crops included leaf lettuce, dry onions and spinach, each of which dropped more than 40 percent in gross sales and which together generated $6.3 million less than 2005.
Salad greens also experienced lower sales at lower prices because of falling consumer demand due to an outbreak of E. Coli in spinach that was traced back to a ranch in Paicines and a processing plant in San Juan Bautista. The tainted spinach killed three and sickened more than 200 nationwide. To the public, it did not matter that the crop was grown in San Benito County, O’Day said.
“Although they occurred in a different county, the market effect was felt in this county and other counties,” he said.
Sales of nursery crops, such as flowers and trees totaled $87 million and made up 36 percent of the county’s gross – about the same as 2005 despite damage from the heat wave. Mushrooms, which made up 28 percent of county’s crops, also remained even at about $58 million.
Corn, cherries and romaine lettuce saw an increase in sales of more than 50 percent, for a total of about $6 million. Gross sales of bell peppers also increased $3.5 million, or 39 percent. The rises were a combination of low supply from other areas and higher demand locally and nationwide, O’Day said.
O’Day cautioned against confusing gross sales with what farmers actually netted. Some crops might have a high gross value, but a low net value because the farmer had to invest so much to grow it. For instance, mushrooms gross about $404,000 per acre but require laboratory equipment to culture and a climate-controlled environment and hours of skilled hand labor to grow. By contrast, rangeland grosses about $8 an acre but requires almost no labor or water.
“You may have a producer that may be growing a low-value crop that has the same take-home at the end of the year as someone who is growing a high-value crop,” O’Day said.
For cherry-farmer Ralph Santos, his crop was lighter in 2006 than 2005, but prices were higher. However, rising labor, fuel and water costs affected net sales.
“The biggest thing we have going is an increase in costs,” he said. “Our costs continue to rise and the prices don’t stay up with the rising.”
While the county’s gross sales declined for two years running, next year is not likely to buck the trend, O’Day said. Freezing temperatures in January 2007 damaged a number of county crops including cut flowers and bell peppers. In addition, farmers had to spend more to heat plants to keep them from freezing, so net sales might be lower, he said.
However, predicting this year’s sales, gross or net, is difficult because they will continue to be affected by supply from other areas, O’Day said. While farmers can try to plant crops that are in low supply, there is no guarantee that demand will continue.
Farmers have to take market fluctuations and the variations in sales in stride, Santos said.
“Every year is different,” he said. “There’s no typical year.”
Cropping Up, Trickling Down
Crop Percentage Change Gross
Corn +57 +$1.7M $4.7M
Cherries +55 +$2.4M $6.7M
Romaine lettuce +53 +$1.9M $5.6M
Leaf lettuce -46 -$2.7M $3.3M
Dry onions -44 -$2.2M $2.9M
Spinach -43 -$1.4M $1.8M
Source: Santa Clara County Dept. of Agriculture
2006 County Crop Sales
1. Nursery Crops $87,034,100
2. Mushrooms $57,738,000
3. Peppers, Bell $12,629,000
4. Wine Grapes $7,448,000
5. Steers/Heifers $7,243,000
6. Cut Flowers $7,052,900
7. Cherries $6,718,000
8. Lettuce, Romaine $5,561,000
9. Corn $4,682,000
10. Tomatoes, Fresh $3,974,000
11. Broccoli $3,864,000
12. Chinese Vegetables $3,724,000
13. Peppers, Wax & Chili $3,347,000
14. Lettuce, Leaf $3,274,000
15. Onions, Dry $2,893,000
16. Spinach $1,824,000
17. Strawberries $1,618,400
18. Celery $1,448,000
19. Range $1,428,000
20. Beans $1,372,000
21. Seed Crops $1,230,000
22. Timber $1,229,980
23. Cabbage $1,141,000
Source: Santa Clara County Dept. of Agriculture
